Elsternwick vs Surrey Hills
Property investment comparison - Elsternwick, VIC 3185 vs Surrey Hills, VIC 3127
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Elsternwick wins 4, Surrey Hills wins 0. 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.
| Metric | Elsternwick | Surrey Hills |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $2.1M | $2.2M |
| Median unit price | - | $900K |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 2.47% | 2.23% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | - | 3.94% |
| 1-year house growth | -3.6% | -6.5%estimate |
| 3-year house growth | -5.4% | - |
| Vacancy rate | 1.1% | 2.6% |
| Population | 10,887 | 13,655 |
Elsternwick vs Surrey Hills: what the numbers say
The median house price is $2.1M in Elsternwick and $2.2M in Surrey Hills, so Elsternwick is the cheaper entry point, with Surrey Hills houses about 3% dearer.
On cash flow, Elsternwick leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.47%, compared with 2.23% in Surrey Hills, a gap of 0.24 percentage points.
Over the past year house prices moved -3.6% in Elsternwick and -6.5% in Surrey Hills (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Elsternwick, while Surrey Hills went backwards.
Rental vacancy is 1.1% in Elsternwick and 2.6% in Surrey Hills, so landlords in Elsternwick face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Surrey Hills is the bigger suburb, with a population of 13,655 against 10,887, larger than Elsternwick; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Elsternwick for rental income, Elsternwick for a lower purchase price, Elsternwick for recent price momentum, Elsternwick for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.
Keep exploring
- National investment guide - top suburbs across every metric
- Take the suburb finder quiz - 5 questions to match your goals
- How our investment score works
- Property investment glossary - every term defined
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