Coogee vs Ocean Reef

The median house price is $1.6M in Coogee and $1.5M in Ocean Reef, so Ocean Reef is the cheaper entry point, with Coogee houses about 1% dearer.

On cash flow, Ocean Reef leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.69%, compared with 3.60% in Coogee, a gap of 0.09 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +18.2% in Coogee and +16.1% in Ocean Reef, so recent momentum favours Coogee, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Coogee houses are +43.9% and Ocean Reef houses +52.9%, so Ocean Reef has compounded faster than Coogee over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.8% in Coogee and 1.7% in Ocean Reef, so landlords in Coogee face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Ocean Reef is the bigger suburb, with a population of 8,125 against 5,345, larger than Coogee; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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