Newmarket vs Wavell Heights

The median house price is $1.7M in Newmarket and $1.6M in Wavell Heights, so Wavell Heights is the cheaper entry point, with Newmarket houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Newmarket sits at a median of $850K against $800K in Wavell Heights, which makes Wavell Heights the more affordable unit market and Newmarket the pricier one.

Over the past year house prices moved +10.5% in Newmarket and +11.3% in Wavell Heights, so recent momentum favours Wavell Heights, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Newmarket houses are +29.5% and Wavell Heights houses +37.1%, so Wavell Heights has compounded faster than Newmarket over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.2% in Newmarket and 1.4% in Wavell Heights, so landlords in Newmarket face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Wavell Heights is the bigger suburb, with a population of 10,336 against 5,083, roughly 2.0 times the size of Newmarket; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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