Durack vs Forest Lake

The median house price is $1M in Durack and $1.0M in Forest Lake, so Durack is the cheaper entry point, with Forest Lake houses about 1% dearer.

Gross rental yield on houses is effectively level, at 3.54% in Durack and 3.56% in Forest Lake, so neither suburb has a cash flow edge on houses.

Over the past year house prices moved +17.3% in Durack and +14.8% in Forest Lake, so recent momentum favours Durack, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Durack houses are +54.3% and Forest Lake houses +47.3%, so Durack has compounded faster than Forest Lake over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.7% in Durack and 1.4% in Forest Lake, so landlords in Durack face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Forest Lake is the bigger suburb, with a population of 22,676 against 7,788, roughly 2.9 times the size of Durack; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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