Merrimac vs Tamborine Mountain

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.2M in Merrimac and $1.2M in Tamborine Mountain.

On cash flow, Merrimac leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.03%, compared with 3.40% in Tamborine Mountain, a gap of 0.63 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +14.9% in Merrimac and +15.7% in Tamborine Mountain, so recent momentum favours Tamborine Mountain, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Merrimac houses are +43.2% and Tamborine Mountain houses +26.5%, so Merrimac has compounded faster than Tamborine Mountain over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Merrimac and 1.9% in Tamborine Mountain, so landlords in Merrimac face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Tamborine Mountain is the bigger suburb, with a population of 8,105 against 7,212, larger than Merrimac; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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