Harrington Park vs Norah Head

The median house price is $1.6M in Harrington Park and $1.6M in Norah Head, so Harrington Park is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Harrington Park sits at a median of $895K against $1.2M in Norah Head, which makes Harrington Park the more affordable unit market and Norah Head the pricier one.

On cash flow, Harrington Park leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.85%, compared with 2.50% in Norah Head, a gap of 0.35 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +7.0% in Harrington Park and +3.2% in Norah Head (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Harrington Park, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.3% in Norah Head and 2.1% in Harrington Park, so landlords in Norah Head face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Harrington Park is the bigger suburb, with a population of 13,332 against 1,149, roughly 12 times the size of Norah Head; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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