Hallam vs Yarra Junction

The median house price is $805K in Hallam and $810K in Yarra Junction, so Hallam is the cheaper entry point, with Yarra Junction houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Hallam sits at a median of $625K against $620K in Yarra Junction, which makes Yarra Junction the more affordable unit market and Hallam the pricier one.

On cash flow, Yarra Junction leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.02%, compared with 3.68% in Hallam, a gap of 0.34 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +7.7% in Hallam (an estimate) and +4.3% in Yarra Junction (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Hallam, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.3% in Yarra Junction and 1.0% in Hallam, so landlords in Yarra Junction face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Hallam is the bigger suburb, with a population of 11,355 against 2,875, roughly 3.9 times the size of Yarra Junction; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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