Nelson Bay vs Oak Flats

The median house price is $1.0M in Nelson Bay and $1.0M in Oak Flats, so Oak Flats is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Nelson Bay sits at a median of $700K against $840K in Oak Flats, which makes Nelson Bay the more affordable unit market and Oak Flats the pricier one.

On cash flow, Oak Flats leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.79%, compared with 3.48% in Nelson Bay, a gap of 0.31 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +0.1% in Nelson Bay (an estimate) and +12.2% in Oak Flats (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Oak Flats, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.7% in Oak Flats and 1.6% in Nelson Bay, so landlords in Oak Flats face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Oak Flats is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,840 against 6,141, larger than Nelson Bay; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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