Hampton Park vs Lara

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $730K in Hampton Park and $730K in Lara.

For units, Hampton Park sits at a median of $590K against $560K in Lara, which makes Lara the more affordable unit market and Hampton Park the pricier one.

On cash flow, Lara leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.10%, compared with 4.04% in Hampton Park, a gap of 0.06 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +8.9% in Hampton Park (an estimate) and +6.8% in Lara (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Hampton Park, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.7% in Lara and 2.3% in Hampton Park, so landlords in Lara face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Hampton Park is the bigger suburb, with a population of 26,082 against 19,014, larger than Lara; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Lara for rental income, Hampton Park for recent price momentum, Lara for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.