Caulfield East vs Mount Waverley

The median house price is $1.6M in Caulfield East and $1.6M in Mount Waverley, so Caulfield East is the cheaper entry point, with Mount Waverley houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Caulfield East sits at a median of $370K against $1.1M in Mount Waverley, which makes Caulfield East the more affordable unit market and Mount Waverley the pricier one.

Over the past year house prices moved +0.4% in Caulfield East and -2.8% in Mount Waverley, so recent momentum favours Caulfield East, while Mount Waverley went backwards.

Looking back three years, Caulfield East houses are +10.2% and Mount Waverley houses +0.8%, so Caulfield East has compounded faster than Mount Waverley over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Caulfield East and 1.7% in Mount Waverley, so landlords in Caulfield East face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Mount Waverley is the bigger suburb, with a population of 35,340 against 1,293, roughly 27 times the size of Caulfield East; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Caulfield East for a lower purchase price, Caulfield East for recent price momentum, Caulfield East for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.