Kearsley vs Sussex Inlet

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $780K in Kearsley and $780K in Sussex Inlet.

For units, Kearsley sits at a median of $470K against $625K in Sussex Inlet, which makes Kearsley the more affordable unit market and Sussex Inlet the pricier one.

On cash flow, Kearsley leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.27%, compared with 3.83% in Sussex Inlet, a gap of 0.44 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +11.4% in Kearsley and +2.7% in Sussex Inlet, so recent momentum favours Kearsley, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Kearsley houses are +36.6% and Sussex Inlet houses +6.6%, so Kearsley has compounded faster than Sussex Inlet over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 2.0% in Kearsley and 3.1% in Sussex Inlet, so landlords in Kearsley face less competition for tenants.

Sussex Inlet is the bigger suburb, with a population of 3,888 against 838, roughly 4.6 times the size of Kearsley; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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