Portarlington vs Tullamarine

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $825K in Portarlington and $825K in Tullamarine.

For units, Portarlington sits at a median of $630K against $600K in Tullamarine, which makes Tullamarine the more affordable unit market and Portarlington the pricier one.

On cash flow, Tullamarine leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.78%, compared with 3.50% in Portarlington, a gap of 0.28 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +3.6% in Portarlington (an estimate) and +10.0% in Tullamarine, so recent momentum favours Tullamarine, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.1% in Tullamarine and 2.1% in Portarlington, so landlords in Tullamarine face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Tullamarine is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,733 against 4,436, larger than Portarlington; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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