Clayton Bay vs Moonta Bay

The median house price is $665K in Clayton Bay and $695K in Moonta Bay, so Clayton Bay is the cheaper entry point, with Moonta Bay houses about 5% dearer.

For units, Clayton Bay sits at a median of $470K against $335K in Moonta Bay, which makes Moonta Bay the more affordable unit market and Clayton Bay the pricier one.

On cash flow, Clayton Bay leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.15%, compared with 3.57% in Moonta Bay, a gap of 0.58 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +5.3% in Clayton Bay and +14.8% in Moonta Bay, so recent momentum favours Moonta Bay, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Clayton Bay houses are +33.3% and Moonta Bay houses +54.4%, so Moonta Bay has compounded faster than Clayton Bay over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.6% in Moonta Bay and 1.5% in Clayton Bay, so landlords in Moonta Bay face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Moonta Bay is the bigger suburb, with a population of 2,633 against 472, roughly 6 times the size of Clayton Bay; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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