Middle Swan vs Westminster

The median house price is $815K in Middle Swan and $810K in Westminster, so Westminster is the cheaper entry point, with Middle Swan houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Middle Swan sits at a median of $545K against $690K in Westminster, which makes Middle Swan the more affordable unit market and Westminster the pricier one.

On cash flow, Westminster leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.55%, compared with 4.39% in Middle Swan, a gap of 0.16 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +22.6% in Middle Swan (an estimate) and +20.9% in Westminster, so recent momentum favours Middle Swan, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.8% in Westminster and 1.0% in Middle Swan, so landlords in Westminster face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Westminster is the bigger suburb, with a population of 7,042 against 2,852, roughly 2.5 times the size of Middle Swan; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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