Palmwoods vs Redland Bay

The median house price is $1.2M in Palmwoods and $1.2M in Redland Bay, so Palmwoods is the cheaper entry point, with Redland Bay houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Palmwoods sits at a median of $415K against $880K in Redland Bay, which makes Palmwoods the more affordable unit market and Redland Bay the pricier one.

Gross rental yield on houses is effectively level, at 3.42% in Palmwoods and 3.39% in Redland Bay, so neither suburb has a cash flow edge on houses.

Over the past year house prices moved +14.1% in Palmwoods and +16.6% in Redland Bay (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Redland Bay, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.2% in Palmwoods and 1.8% in Redland Bay, so landlords in Palmwoods face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Redland Bay is the bigger suburb, with a population of 17,056 against 6,357, roughly 2.7 times the size of Palmwoods; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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