Douglas vs Newtown

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $730K in Douglas and $730K in Newtown.

For units, Douglas sits at a median of $440K against $590K in Newtown, which makes Douglas the more affordable unit market and Newtown the pricier one.

On cash flow, Douglas leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.29%, compared with 3.97% in Newtown, a gap of 0.32 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +17.7% in Douglas and +18.4% in Newtown, so recent momentum favours Newtown, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Douglas houses are +68.3% and Newtown houses +60.0%, so Douglas has compounded faster than Newtown over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.9% in Newtown and 1.5% in Douglas, so landlords in Newtown face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Newtown is the bigger suburb, with a population of 10,039 against 7,780, larger than Douglas; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Douglas for rental income, Newtown for recent price momentum, Newtown for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.