McLeans Ridges vs Stanhope Gardens

The median house price is $1.6M in McLeans Ridges and $1.6M in Stanhope Gardens, so Stanhope Gardens is the cheaper entry point.

On cash flow, Stanhope Gardens leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.79%, compared with 2.07% in McLeans Ridges, a gap of 0.72 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +5.2% in McLeans Ridges and +3.4% in Stanhope Gardens, so recent momentum favours McLeans Ridges, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, McLeans Ridges houses are +16.4% and Stanhope Gardens houses +7.1%, so McLeans Ridges has compounded faster than Stanhope Gardens over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.9% in Stanhope Gardens and 4.9% in McLeans Ridges, so landlords in Stanhope Gardens face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Stanhope Gardens is the bigger suburb, with a population of 9,349 against 808, roughly 12 times the size of McLeans Ridges; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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