Cranbourne West vs Hampton Park

The median house price is $735K in Cranbourne West and $730K in Hampton Park, so Hampton Park is the cheaper entry point, with Cranbourne West houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Cranbourne West sits at a median of $545K against $590K in Hampton Park, which makes Cranbourne West the more affordable unit market and Hampton Park the pricier one.

On cash flow, Cranbourne West leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.21%, compared with 4.04% in Hampton Park, a gap of 0.17 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +5.8% in Cranbourne West and +8.9% in Hampton Park (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Hampton Park, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 2.3% in Hampton Park and 2.8% in Cranbourne West, so landlords in Hampton Park face less competition for tenants.

Hampton Park is the bigger suburb, with a population of 26,082 against 19,969, larger than Cranbourne West; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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