Dulwich Hill vs Surry Hills

The median house price is $2.5M in Dulwich Hill and $2.5M in Surry Hills, so Dulwich Hill is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Dulwich Hill sits at a median of $970K against $860K in Surry Hills, which makes Surry Hills the more affordable unit market and Dulwich Hill the pricier one.

On cash flow, Surry Hills leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.75%, compared with 2.23% in Dulwich Hill, a gap of 0.52 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +5.2% in Dulwich Hill (an estimate) and +4.2% in Surry Hills, so recent momentum favours Dulwich Hill, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.1% in Dulwich Hill and 1.5% in Surry Hills, so landlords in Dulwich Hill face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Surry Hills is the bigger suburb, with a population of 15,828 against 14,046, larger than Dulwich Hill; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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