Ellalong vs Smiths Lake

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $825K in Ellalong and $825K in Smiths Lake.

For units, Ellalong sits at a median of $470K against $540K in Smiths Lake, which makes Ellalong the more affordable unit market and Smiths Lake the pricier one.

On cash flow, Ellalong leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.85%, compared with 3.66% in Smiths Lake, a gap of 0.19 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +10.2% in Ellalong and +1.0% in Smiths Lake, so recent momentum favours Ellalong, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Ellalong houses are +15.6% and Smiths Lake houses +15.3%, so Ellalong has compounded faster than Smiths Lake over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.6% in Smiths Lake and 2.1% in Ellalong, so landlords in Smiths Lake face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Ellalong is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,351 against 1,332, larger than Smiths Lake; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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