Craigburn Farm vs Mitcham

The median house price is $1.6M in Craigburn Farm and $1.7M in Mitcham, so Craigburn Farm is the cheaper entry point, with Mitcham houses about 7% dearer.

For units, Craigburn Farm sits at a median of $710K against $730K in Mitcham, which makes Craigburn Farm the more affordable unit market and Mitcham the pricier one.

On cash flow, Mitcham leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.62%, compared with 2.37% in Craigburn Farm, a gap of 0.25 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +14.9% in Craigburn Farm (an estimate) and +6.7% in Mitcham, so recent momentum favours Craigburn Farm, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.3% in Craigburn Farm and 1.1% in Mitcham, so landlords in Craigburn Farm face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Craigburn Farm is the bigger suburb, with a population of 3,099 against 1,832, larger than Mitcham; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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