Macclesfield vs Richmond

The median house price is $1.1M in Macclesfield and $1.1M in Richmond, so Macclesfield is the cheaper entry point, with Richmond houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Macclesfield sits at a median of $750K against $610K in Richmond, which makes Richmond the more affordable unit market and Macclesfield the pricier one.

On cash flow, Macclesfield leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.40%, compared with 3.07% in Richmond, a gap of 0.33 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +10.6% in Macclesfield and +12.1% in Richmond, so recent momentum favours Richmond, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Macclesfield houses are +44.9% and Richmond houses +50.9%, so Richmond has compounded faster than Macclesfield over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.1% in Richmond and 2.1% in Macclesfield, so landlords in Richmond face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Richmond is the bigger suburb, with a population of 3,474 against 1,413, roughly 2.5 times the size of Macclesfield; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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