McLeans Ridges vs Soldiers Point

The median house price is $1.6M in McLeans Ridges and $1.6M in Soldiers Point, so Soldiers Point is the cheaper entry point, with McLeans Ridges houses about 1% dearer.

For units, McLeans Ridges sits at a median of $450K against $825K in Soldiers Point, which makes McLeans Ridges the more affordable unit market and Soldiers Point the pricier one.

On cash flow, Soldiers Point leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.28%, compared with 2.07% in McLeans Ridges, a gap of 0.21 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +5.2% in McLeans Ridges and +3.2% in Soldiers Point (an estimate), so recent momentum favours McLeans Ridges, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 2.5% in Soldiers Point and 4.9% in McLeans Ridges, so landlords in Soldiers Point face less competition for tenants.

Soldiers Point is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,564 against 808, larger than McLeans Ridges; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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