Caloundra West vs Margate

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.0M in Caloundra West and $1.0M in Margate.

For units, Caloundra West sits at a median of $780K against $775K in Margate, which makes Margate the more affordable unit market and Caloundra West the pricier one.

On cash flow, Caloundra West leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.98%, compared with 3.27% in Margate, a gap of 0.71 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +17.5% in Caloundra West and +13.6% in Margate (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Caloundra West, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.6% in Margate and 1.0% in Caloundra West, so landlords in Margate face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Margate is the bigger suburb, with a population of 7,575 against 7,270, larger than Caloundra West; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Caloundra West for rental income, Caloundra West for recent price momentum, Margate for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.