Merewether Heights vs Shelly Beach
Property investment comparison - Merewether Heights, NSW 2291 vs Shelly Beach, NSW 2261
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Merewether Heights wins 2, Shelly Beach wins 2. The better choice depends on whether you're optimising for cash flow, growth, affordability, or liquidity, the table below highlights the winner on each metric.
| Metric | Merewether Heights | Shelly Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.7M | $1.7M |
| Median unit price | $805K | - |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 2.93% | 2.62% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | 4.26% | 3.13% |
| 1-year house growth | +1.7%estimate | +11.6% |
| 3-year house growth | - | +11.0% |
| Vacancy rate | 2.2% | 0.8% |
| Population | 1,495 | 1,313 |
Merewether Heights vs Shelly Beach: what the numbers say
Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.7M in Merewether Heights and $1.7M in Shelly Beach.
On cash flow, Merewether Heights leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.93%, compared with 2.62% in Shelly Beach, a gap of 0.31 percentage points.
Over the past year house prices moved +1.7% in Merewether Heights (an estimate) and +11.6% in Shelly Beach, so recent momentum favours Shelly Beach, although both suburbs recorded growth.
Rental vacancy is 0.8% in Shelly Beach and 2.2% in Merewether Heights, so landlords in Shelly Beach face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Merewether Heights is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,495 against 1,313, larger than Shelly Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Merewether Heights for rental income, Shelly Beach for recent price momentum, Shelly Beach for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.
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Merewether Heights, NSW 2291
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