Moranbah vs Mount St John

The median house price is $400K in Moranbah and $395K in Mount St John, so Mount St John is the cheaper entry point, with Moranbah houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Moranbah sits at a median of $390K against $410K in Mount St John, which makes Moranbah the more affordable unit market and Mount St John the pricier one.

On cash flow, Mount St John leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 8.43%, compared with 8.00% in Moranbah, a gap of 0.43 percentage points.

Rental vacancy is 1.4% in Mount St John and 1.8% in Moranbah, so landlords in Mount St John face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Moranbah is the bigger suburb, with a population of 9,425 against 103, roughly 92 times the size of Mount St John; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Mount St John for rental income, Mount St John for a lower purchase price, Mount St John for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.