Charmhaven vs South Murwillumbah

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $850K in Charmhaven and $850K in South Murwillumbah.

On cash flow, South Murwillumbah leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.60%, compared with 3.90% in Charmhaven, a gap of 0.70 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +9.6% in Charmhaven and +8.6% in South Murwillumbah, so recent momentum favours Charmhaven, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Charmhaven houses are +23.5% and South Murwillumbah houses +28.5%, so South Murwillumbah has compounded faster than Charmhaven over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.9% in South Murwillumbah and 2.9% in Charmhaven, so landlords in South Murwillumbah face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Charmhaven is the bigger suburb, with a population of 2,501 against 1,064, roughly 2.4 times the size of South Murwillumbah; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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