McKenzie Hill vs Mernda

The median house price is $745K in McKenzie Hill and $750K in Mernda, so McKenzie Hill is the cheaper entry point, with Mernda houses about 1% dearer.

For units, McKenzie Hill sits at a median of $510K against $500K in Mernda, which makes Mernda the more affordable unit market and McKenzie Hill the pricier one.

On cash flow, Mernda leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.81%, compared with 3.58% in McKenzie Hill, a gap of 0.23 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved -1.9% in McKenzie Hill (an estimate) and +4.9% in Mernda (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Mernda, while McKenzie Hill went backwards.

Rental vacancy is 2.0% in Mernda and 3.5% in McKenzie Hill, so landlords in Mernda face less competition for tenants.

Mernda is the bigger suburb, with a population of 23,369 against 775, roughly 30 times the size of McKenzie Hill; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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