Horsfield Bay vs Ourimbah

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.2M in Horsfield Bay and $1.2M in Ourimbah.

For units, Horsfield Bay sits at a median of $690K against $685K in Ourimbah, which makes Ourimbah the more affordable unit market and Horsfield Bay the pricier one.

On cash flow, Ourimbah leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.36%, compared with 3.23% in Horsfield Bay, a gap of 0.13 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +8.2% in Horsfield Bay and +2.6% in Ourimbah, so recent momentum favours Horsfield Bay, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Horsfield Bay houses are +14.6% and Ourimbah houses +12.0%, so Horsfield Bay has compounded faster than Ourimbah over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.9% in Ourimbah and 8.5% in Horsfield Bay, so landlords in Ourimbah face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Ourimbah is the bigger suburb, with a population of 4,019 against 501, roughly 8 times the size of Horsfield Bay; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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