Kariong vs Plumpton

The median house price is $1.1M in Kariong and $1.1M in Plumpton, so Plumpton is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Kariong sits at a median of $835K against $825K in Plumpton, which makes Plumpton the more affordable unit market and Kariong the pricier one.

On cash flow, Kariong leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.61%, compared with 3.14% in Plumpton, a gap of 0.47 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +8.7% in Kariong and +9.4% in Plumpton, so recent momentum favours Plumpton, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Kariong houses are +15.4% and Plumpton houses +27.6%, so Plumpton has compounded faster than Kariong over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.5% in Kariong and 1.6% in Plumpton, so landlords in Kariong face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Plumpton is the bigger suburb, with a population of 10,070 against 6,485, larger than Kariong; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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