Maldon vs Strathdale

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $730K in Maldon and $730K in Strathdale.

On cash flow, Strathdale leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.19%, compared with 3.33% in Maldon, a gap of 0.86 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +4.5% in Maldon and +11.5% in Strathdale, so recent momentum favours Strathdale, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Maldon houses are -1.7% and Strathdale houses +12.9%, so Strathdale has compounded faster than Maldon over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Strathdale and 1.9% in Maldon, so landlords in Strathdale face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Strathdale is the bigger suburb, with a population of 5,756 against 1,665, roughly 3.5 times the size of Maldon; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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