Ferndale vs Goode Beach

The median house price is $860K in Ferndale and $865K in Goode Beach, so Ferndale is the cheaper entry point, with Goode Beach houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Ferndale sits at a median of $680K against $215K in Goode Beach, which makes Goode Beach the more affordable unit market and Ferndale the pricier one.

On cash flow, Ferndale leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.30%, compared with 2.73% in Goode Beach, a gap of 1.57 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +18.6% in Ferndale (an estimate) and +20.1% in Goode Beach, so recent momentum favours Goode Beach, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Ferndale and 3.5% in Goode Beach, so landlords in Ferndale face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Ferndale is the bigger suburb, with a population of 4,457 against 258, roughly 17 times the size of Goode Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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