Kilkivan vs Yabulu

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $590K in Kilkivan and $590K in Yabulu.

For units, Kilkivan sits at a median of $355K against $240K in Yabulu, which makes Yabulu the more affordable unit market and Kilkivan the pricier one.

On cash flow, Yabulu leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.72%, compared with 2.29% in Kilkivan, a gap of 2.43 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +7.2% in Kilkivan and +15.4% in Yabulu, so recent momentum favours Yabulu, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Kilkivan houses are +30.4% and Yabulu houses +59.2%, so Yabulu has compounded faster than Kilkivan over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.8% in Yabulu and 4.4% in Kilkivan, so landlords in Yabulu face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Yabulu is the bigger suburb, with a population of 719 against 689, larger than Kilkivan; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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