Murrumbeena vs Narre Warren North

The median house price is $1.6M in Murrumbeena and $1.6M in Narre Warren North, so Narre Warren North is the cheaper entry point, with Murrumbeena houses about 1% dearer.

On cash flow, Narre Warren North leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.60%, compared with 2.52% in Murrumbeena, a gap of 0.08 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +0.0% in Murrumbeena and +5.9% in Narre Warren North (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Narre Warren North, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.8% in Narre Warren North and 1.4% in Murrumbeena, so landlords in Narre Warren North face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Murrumbeena is the bigger suburb, with a population of 9,996 against 8,033, larger than Narre Warren North; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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