Mount Waverley vs South Melbourne

The median house price is $1.6M in Mount Waverley and $1.6M in South Melbourne, so Mount Waverley is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Mount Waverley sits at a median of $1.1M against $600K in South Melbourne, which makes South Melbourne the more affordable unit market and Mount Waverley the pricier one.

Over the past year house prices moved -2.8% in Mount Waverley and +0.4% in South Melbourne (an estimate), so recent momentum favours South Melbourne, while Mount Waverley went backwards.

Rental vacancy is 1.2% in South Melbourne and 1.7% in Mount Waverley, so landlords in South Melbourne face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Mount Waverley is the bigger suburb, with a population of 35,340 against 11,548, roughly 3.1 times the size of South Melbourne; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Mount Waverley for a lower purchase price, South Melbourne for recent price momentum, South Melbourne for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.