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East Bairnsdale vs Happy Valley

Property investment comparison - East Bairnsdale, VIC 3875 vs Happy Valley, VIC 3351

Head-to-head across core investment metrics: East Bairnsdale wins 1, Happy Valley wins 3. The better choice depends on whether you're optimising for cash flow, growth, affordability, or liquidity, the table below highlights the winner on each metric.

MetricEast BairnsdaleHappy Valley
Median house price$450K$445K
Median unit price-$50K
Gross rental yield (houses)5.41%6.60%
Gross rental yield (units)5.32%8.05%
1-year house growth+18.2%-
3-year house growth+21.6%-
Vacancy rate1.5%2.7%
Population1,352162

East Bairnsdale vs Happy Valley: what the numbers say

The median house price is $450K in East Bairnsdale and $445K in Happy Valley, so Happy Valley is the cheaper entry point, with East Bairnsdale houses about 1% dearer.

On cash flow, Happy Valley leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 6.60%, compared with 5.41% in East Bairnsdale, a gap of 1.19 percentage points.

Rental vacancy is 1.5% in East Bairnsdale and 2.7% in Happy Valley, so landlords in East Bairnsdale face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

East Bairnsdale is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,352 against 162, roughly 8 times the size of Happy Valley; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Happy Valley for rental income, Happy Valley for a lower purchase price, East Bairnsdale for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.

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