Centenary Heights vs Fairymead

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $850K in Centenary Heights and $850K in Fairymead.

For units, Centenary Heights sits at a median of $665K against $590K in Fairymead, which makes Fairymead the more affordable unit market and Centenary Heights the pricier one.

On cash flow, Fairymead leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.05%, compared with 3.80% in Centenary Heights, a gap of 0.25 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +19.3% in Centenary Heights and +12.4% in Fairymead, so recent momentum favours Centenary Heights, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Centenary Heights houses are +52.8% and Fairymead houses +34.6%, so Centenary Heights has compounded faster than Fairymead over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Centenary Heights and 1.1% in Fairymead, so landlords in Centenary Heights face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Centenary Heights is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,152 against 28, roughly 220 times the size of Fairymead; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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