Suburb vs suburb, decided on our own transaction record
16 head-to-heads covering 659 PremiumRea settlements. Each one commits to an answer for a named buyer situation rather than tabulating two suburbs and leaving you to decide. Where we hold no settlements in a suburb, the page says so in its verdict rather than in a footnote.
The finding every page in this series rests on
Across 144 granny-flat additions in Cranbourne, Cranbourne North, Hampton Park, Narre Warren (January 2023 – September 2025), the median gross yield after works landed between 5.82% and 5.86% in every one of those four suburbs — a 0.04 percentage-point spread — while inside each of those same suburbs the gap between a granny-flat addition and a cosmetic renovation was 0.51 to 1.03 points, across 48 cosmetic-only settlements. In our own record, what the block let us build moved the gross yield more than which suburb we bought in.
Source: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20095886 — PremiumRea Melbourne Investment Property Portfolio, n=345, CC-BY-4.0.
Melbourne south-east — the granny-flat corridor
Cranbourne vs Hampton Park
Short answer: Cranbourne if you are building a second dwelling, Hampton Park if you are not
123 PremiumRea settlements · medians $601,040 vs $631,000
Cranbourne vs Narre Warren
Short answer: Cranbourne for yield-per-dollar, Narre Warren for the amenity — and the premium buys amenity, not yield
109 PremiumRea settlements · medians $601,040 vs $700,053
Cranbourne vs Cranbourne North
Short answer: as investments they are the same suburb — buy Cranbourne for the block, Cranbourne North for the primary school
97 PremiumRea settlements · medians $601,040 vs $618,875
Doveton vs Hampton Park
Short answer: Hampton Park, because the Doveton discount buyers expect did not show up in what we actually paid
60 PremiumRea settlements · medians $638,080 vs $631,000
Narre Warren vs Narre Warren South
Short answer: Narre Warren South only if you will definitely build — otherwise Narre Warren, and the gap between those two outcomes is the widest we record
56 PremiumRea settlements · medians $700,053 vs $702,195
Berwick vs Narre Warren
Short answer: Narre Warren if the property is a rental, Berwick if a family will live in it — the price gap buys schools, not yield
53 PremiumRea settlements · medians $770,105 vs $700,053
Rooming-house markets
Frankston vs Rowville
Short answer: Rowville if you are converting to a rooming house, Frankston if you are doing anything else
30 PremiumRea settlements · medians $800,000 vs $811,077
Dandenong vs Springvale
Short answer: Dandenong — cheaper entry and a higher rooming-house median, with Springvale winning only on land
14 PremiumRea settlements · medians $749,420 vs $821,129
Glen Waverley vs Noble Park
Short answer: Noble Park for the income, Glen Waverley only if you will eventually sell to an owner-occupier
9 PremiumRea settlements · medians $785,514 vs $743,333
Bayside and the Peninsula
Outer east
Boronia vs Ferntree Gully
Short answer: Boronia for anyone buying land to build on, Ferntree Gully only if the school catchment is the point
8 PremiumRea settlements · medians $815,290 vs $1,135,305
Kilsyth vs Mooroolbark
Short answer: Mooroolbark if you can reach $701,660, Kilsyth if you cannot — and both columns rest on 2 settlements each
4 PremiumRea settlements · medians $563,903 vs $701,660
Growth corridors, east versus west
New South Wales — research profiles only
Blacktown vs Penrith
Short answer: Penrith on land per dollar, Blacktown on transport — and we hold no settlements in either, so treat both columns as research
No settlements on record — research profiles only
Cessnock vs Maitland
Short answer: Cessnock on the numbers, Maitland if the tenant needs rail — and every figure here is research, not a settlement
No settlements on record — research profiles only