Essendon vs Ivanhoe

The median house price is $1.8M in Essendon and $1.8M in Ivanhoe, so Ivanhoe is the cheaper entry point, with Essendon houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Essendon sits at a median of $600K against $750K in Ivanhoe, which makes Essendon the more affordable unit market and Ivanhoe the pricier one.

Over the past year house prices moved +6.8% in Essendon and -2.9% in Ivanhoe, so recent momentum favours Essendon, while Ivanhoe went backwards.

Looking back three years, Essendon houses are +1.4% and Ivanhoe houses +12.1%, so Ivanhoe has compounded faster than Essendon over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.2% in Ivanhoe and 1.5% in Essendon, so landlords in Ivanhoe face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Essendon is the bigger suburb, with a population of 21,240 against 13,374, larger than Ivanhoe; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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