Coolum Beach vs Eight Mile Plains

The median house price is $1.6M in Coolum Beach and $1.6M in Eight Mile Plains, so Coolum Beach is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Coolum Beach sits at a median of $1.1M against $830K in Eight Mile Plains, which makes Eight Mile Plains the more affordable unit market and Coolum Beach the pricier one.

Over the past year house prices moved +12.2% in Coolum Beach and +8.3% in Eight Mile Plains, so recent momentum favours Coolum Beach, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Coolum Beach houses are +29.0% and Eight Mile Plains houses +39.7%, so Eight Mile Plains has compounded faster than Coolum Beach over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.7% in Coolum Beach and 1.0% in Eight Mile Plains, so landlords in Coolum Beach face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Eight Mile Plains is the bigger suburb, with a population of 15,326 against 9,152, larger than Coolum Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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