Richmond vs Sunshine Acres

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.1M in Richmond and $1.1M in Sunshine Acres.

For units, Richmond sits at a median of $815K against $640K in Sunshine Acres, which makes Sunshine Acres the more affordable unit market and Richmond the pricier one.

On cash flow, Richmond leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.27%, compared with 3.29% in Sunshine Acres, a gap of 0.98 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +16.6% in Richmond and +14.6% in Sunshine Acres, so recent momentum favours Richmond, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Richmond houses are +46.7% and Sunshine Acres houses +37.2%, so Richmond has compounded faster than Sunshine Acres over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 3.9% in Richmond and 5.5% in Sunshine Acres, so landlords in Richmond face less competition for tenants.

Sunshine Acres is the bigger suburb, with a population of 1,009 against 852, larger than Richmond; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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