McCracken vs Old Noarlunga

The median house price is $850K in McCracken and $875K in Old Noarlunga, so McCracken is the cheaper entry point, with Old Noarlunga houses about 3% dearer.

For units, McCracken sits at a median of $375K against $650K in Old Noarlunga, which makes McCracken the more affordable unit market and Old Noarlunga the pricier one.

On cash flow, Old Noarlunga leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.91%, compared with 3.77% in McCracken, a gap of 0.14 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +12.2% in McCracken (an estimate) and +15.3% in Old Noarlunga, so recent momentum favours Old Noarlunga, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.9% in McCracken and 1.7% in Old Noarlunga, so landlords in McCracken face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

McCracken is the bigger suburb, with a population of 2,076 against 1,531, larger than Old Noarlunga; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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