Lockhart vs North Lismore

The median house price is $385K in Lockhart and $390K in North Lismore, so Lockhart is the cheaper entry point, with North Lismore houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Lockhart sits at a median of $660K against $455K in North Lismore, which makes North Lismore the more affordable unit market and Lockhart the pricier one.

On cash flow, North Lismore leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 6.93%, compared with 5.79% in Lockhart, a gap of 1.14 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +11.6% in Lockhart and +15.6% in North Lismore, so recent momentum favours North Lismore, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Lockhart houses are +35.5% and North Lismore houses +53.8%, so North Lismore has compounded faster than Lockhart over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.7% in Lockhart and 0.8% in North Lismore, so landlords in Lockhart face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Lockhart is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,019 against 754, larger than North Lismore; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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