Hawley Beach vs Sandy Bay

The median house price is $1.1M in Hawley Beach and $1.3M in Sandy Bay, so Hawley Beach is the cheaper entry point, with Sandy Bay houses about 24% dearer.

For units, Hawley Beach sits at a median of $690K against $680K in Sandy Bay, which makes Sandy Bay the more affordable unit market and Hawley Beach the pricier one.

Gross rental yield on houses is effectively level, at 3.23% in Hawley Beach and 3.20% in Sandy Bay, so neither suburb has a cash flow edge on houses.

Over the past year house prices moved +14.2% in Hawley Beach and -1.6% in Sandy Bay (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Hawley Beach, while Sandy Bay went backwards.

Rental vacancy is 0.4% in Hawley Beach and 2.1% in Sandy Bay, so landlords in Hawley Beach face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Sandy Bay is the bigger suburb, with a population of 12,315 against 590, roughly 21 times the size of Hawley Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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