Franklin vs Oakdowns

The median house price is $775K in Franklin and $795K in Oakdowns, so Franklin is the cheaper entry point, with Oakdowns houses about 3% dearer.

For units, Franklin sits at a median of $380K against $620K in Oakdowns, which makes Franklin the more affordable unit market and Oakdowns the pricier one.

On cash flow, Oakdowns leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.10%, compared with 3.72% in Franklin, a gap of 0.38 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +8.5% in Franklin (an estimate) and +14.4% in Oakdowns (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Oakdowns, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.3% in Oakdowns and 1.1% in Franklin, so landlords in Oakdowns face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Oakdowns is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,897 against 1,301, larger than Franklin; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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