Carrington vs Macquarie Hills

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1M in Carrington and $1M in Macquarie Hills.

On cash flow, Macquarie Hills leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.03%, compared with 3.95% in Carrington, a gap of 0.08 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +3.0% in Carrington and +13.9% in Macquarie Hills, so recent momentum favours Macquarie Hills, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Carrington houses are +17.5% and Macquarie Hills houses +27.0%, so Macquarie Hills has compounded faster than Carrington over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.3% in Macquarie Hills and 1.9% in Carrington, so landlords in Macquarie Hills face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Macquarie Hills is the bigger suburb, with a population of 3,605 against 2,061, larger than Carrington; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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