Kepnock vs West Mackay

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $675K in Kepnock and $675K in West Mackay.

On cash flow, West Mackay leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 5.31%, compared with 4.67% in Kepnock, a gap of 0.64 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +16.6% in Kepnock and +16.3% in West Mackay, so recent momentum favours Kepnock, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Kepnock houses are +60.4% and West Mackay houses +44.5%, so Kepnock has compounded faster than West Mackay over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.1% in West Mackay and 2.0% in Kepnock, so landlords in West Mackay face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

West Mackay is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,536 against 4,501, larger than Kepnock; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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