Glass House Mountains vs Scarborough

The median house price is $1.2M in Glass House Mountains and $1.2M in Scarborough, so Scarborough is the cheaper entry point.

Over the past year house prices moved +18.5% in Glass House Mountains and +18.9% in Scarborough, so recent momentum favours Scarborough, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Glass House Mountains houses are +39.6% and Scarborough houses +32.1%, so Glass House Mountains has compounded faster than Scarborough over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.1% in Glass House Mountains and 1.6% in Scarborough, so landlords in Glass House Mountains face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Scarborough is the bigger suburb, with a population of 9,178 against 5,601, larger than Glass House Mountains; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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