McCracken vs Parafield Gardens

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $850K in McCracken and $850K in Parafield Gardens.

For units, McCracken sits at a median of $375K against $600K in Parafield Gardens, which makes McCracken the more affordable unit market and Parafield Gardens the pricier one.

On cash flow, Parafield Gardens 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 +18.1% in Parafield Gardens, so recent momentum favours Parafield Gardens, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.4% in Parafield Gardens and 0.9% in McCracken, so landlords in Parafield Gardens face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Parafield Gardens is the bigger suburb, with a population of 18,467 against 2,076, roughly 9 times the size of McCracken; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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