Frankston vs Rowville: same money, opposite playbooks
Frankston or Rowville — which is better for a high-yield investment at around $800,000?
Short answer: Rowville if you are converting to a rooming house, Frankston if you are doing anything else
These two suburbs cost almost exactly the same and produce almost exactly the same headline yield — median purchase prices $11,077 apart ($800,000 against $811,077) and median gross yields after works 0.03% apart (6.35% against 6.38%). Underneath, they invert. Rowville's 7 rooming-house conversions returned a median gross yield after works of 7.21%, the highest rooming-house median we hold; its 4 second-dwelling additions returned 5.21%, the lowest granny-flat median we hold for any suburb with at least four. Frankston runs the other way: 6 second-dwelling additions at 6.70% — our highest granny-flat median at that sample size — and 7 rooming-house conversions at 6.46%. Same budget, and the right answer flips entirely on which strategy you can actually execute.
The answer changes with your situation — here is each one, decided
You are converting to a rooming house
Rowville. 7 conversions at a median gross yield after works of 7.21% against 7 at 6.46% in Frankston, on a median lot 126 sqm larger. Note the licensing chain: operator licence under the Rooming House Operators Act 2016, council registration under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008, generally Class 1b building compliance.
You are building a second dwelling
Frankston. 6 additions at a median gross yield after works of 6.70% against 4 at 5.21% in Rowville — a gap of well over a percentage point on the same strategy, at a marginally lower median purchase price.
You want a conventional rental with a light refresh
Close, and neither sample is strong: 5.46% across 4 cosmetic-only settlements in Frankston against 5.68% across 2 in Rowville. At those sample sizes we would not let the difference decide a purchase.
Your tenant needs a train
Frankston, with Frankston station, terminus of the Frankston line. Rowville has no station in the suburb; bus to Glen Waverley and Dandenong stations, so a car is assumed — which is part of why its tenant profile suits the shared-accommodation model less than its yields suggest and the household model more.
The rule this comparison is an instance of
Across 144 granny-flat additions in Cranbourne, Cranbourne North, Hampton Park, Narre Warren (January 2023 – September 2025), the median gross yield after works — weekly rent x 52 divided by purchase price plus works spend — 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.
Frankston and Rowville are the strongest demonstration of that rule anywhere in our data, because here the strategy effect does not just exceed the suburb effect — it reverses the ranking. On overall medians the two suburbs are 0.03% apart, effectively tied. On second dwellings Frankston leads by more than a point; on rooming houses Rowville leads by more than three-quarters of a point. A buyer who read only the headline medians would conclude the suburbs are interchangeable, and would then execute the wrong strategy in the wrong one.
Frankston vs Rowville: what our own settlements record
| Frankston | Rowville | |
|---|---|---|
| PremiumRea settlements on record | 17 | 13 |
| Settlement window | February 2023 – September 2025 | June 2023 – September 2025 |
| Median purchase price | $800,000 | $811,077 |
| Median weekly rent after works | $1,130 | $1,150 |
| Median land size | 612 sqm | 738 sqm |
| Median works spend | $85,933 | $92,079 |
| Median total capital deployedpurchase price + works spend — this is the yield denominator | $875,000 | $903,156 |
| Median gross yield after worksweekly rent × 52 ÷ (purchase price + works spend); gross — excludes land tax, management, insurance, maintenance, vacancy and interest | 6.35% | 6.38% |
| Median purchase price to Nov 2025 valuationa dollar observation against one valuation round over 1–3 year holds, not a growth rate | $120,000 | $90,000 |
| Granny-flat additions (median gross yield after works) | 6 · 6.70% | 4 · 5.21% |
| Rooming-house conversions (median gross yield after works) | 7 · 6.46% | 7 · 7.21% |
| Cosmetic renovation only (median gross yield after works) | 4 · 5.46% | 2 · 5.68% |
Every figure in the settlement columns is recomputed at build time from PremiumRea's published transaction dataset — 345 anonymised settlements, January 2023 – September 2025, CC-BY-4.0, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20095886. DENOMINATOR: the settlement gross yield is weekly rent × 52 ÷ (purchase price + works spend), verified against all 345 rows — so it is a return on total capital deployed, and dividing the median rent by the median price will not reproduce it. Research-profile columns are market estimates, not settlements, and their implied gross yield is recalculated as weekly rent × 52 ÷ purchase price rather than quoted.
The market-level profile, for context
These are market estimates of typical investor stock, not settlements. The gross yield is recalculated from each profile's own rent and price rather than quoted, so it cannot contradict the two numbers beside it.
| Frankston | Rowville | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical investor purchase price | $796,000 | $1,072,000 |
| Typical weekly rent | $1,140 | $1,133 |
| Implied gross yieldrecalculated as weekly rent × 52 ÷ purchase price, never quoted | 7.45% | 5.50% |
| Typical land size | 731 sqm | 771 sqm |
The inversion, in numbers
Frankston, 17 settlements (February 2023 – September 2025): 6 second-dwelling additions at a median gross yield after works of 6.70%, 7 rooming-house conversions at 6.46%, 4 cosmetic-only at 5.46%. Median purchase $800,000, median land 612 sqm, median works spend $85,933.
Rowville, 13 settlements (June 2023 – September 2025): 4 second-dwelling additions at 5.21%, 7 rooming-house conversions at 7.21%, 2 cosmetic-only at 5.68%. Median purchase $811,077, median land 738 sqm, median works spend $92,079. The rooming-house and granny-flat rankings run in opposite directions between the two suburbs.
Why the inversion is not random
Rooming-house income scales with occupancy of individual rooms, which follows a demand for cheap, well-located single accommodation. Second-dwelling income scales with the local one- and two-bedroom rental market and with how much land is left over after the existing dwelling. Those two demand structures are not the same, and there is no reason a suburb should be strong at both.
Rowville's median lot of 738 sqm against Frankston's 612 sqm looks like it should favour the second dwelling, and it does not — which is a useful reminder that lot size opens the option and the local rental market prices it. Frankston's rental market for small self-contained dwellings is deeper, and that is what shows up in 6.70% against 5.21%.
What the research profiles say, and where they disagree with us
The Frankston research profile carries $796,000 at $1,140 a week for an implied gross yield of 7.45%; our settled median was $800,000 at $1,130. The Rowville profile carries $1,072,000 at $1,133 for 5.50%, against our settled $811,077 at $1,150.
The Rowville gap is the large one: the profile's typical investor purchase sits well above what we paid. That is what you would expect from a suburb where the general market includes substantial premium family stock and our brief targeted convertible sites. We publish both columns rather than the one that flatters, and the implied profile yield is recalculated from that profile's own rent and price so it cannot contradict them.
Location, council and the second-dwelling pathway
| Frankston | Rowville | |
|---|---|---|
| Postcode | 3199 | 3178 |
| Distance from CBD | 45 km | 25 km |
| Council | City of Frankston | City of Knox |
| Rail access | Frankston station, terminus of the Frankston line | no station in the suburb; bus to Glen Waverley and Dandenong stations |
| Second-dwelling pathway | Victorian Amendment VC253 applies | Victorian Amendment VC253 applies |
Schools: Frankston vs Rowville
Primary ranks are 2025 NAPLAN, secondary ranks are 2025 VCE. Our indexed school set covers Victorian schools only, so a NSW column is shown as blank rather than partial.
| Frankston | Rowville | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools in our indexed set | 13 | 6 |
| Strongest primary (NAPLAN rank) | Frankston Heights Primary School · #332/1,285 | Park Ridge Primary School · #226/1,285 |
| Strongest secondary (VCE rank) | Frankston High School · #183/607 | Rowville Secondary College · #357/607 |
Limits of this comparison
The strategy subsets here run from 2 to 7 settlements. The rooming-house and second-dwelling comparisons are usable; the cosmetic-only comparison is not. Rowville's research profile and our settled median are far apart, so treat the profile column as describing a different slice of the market. Gross yields are gross: they exclude land tax, management, insurance, maintenance, vacancy and interest. We do not publish days-on-market, vendor-discount or auction-clearance series for any suburb — those come from licensed providers whose terms do not permit redistribution, and we would rather carry a visible gap than an unlicensed number.
Frankston vs Rowville — frequently asked questions
Is Frankston or Rowville better for investment?
It depends entirely on strategy, and the answer flips. For a rooming-house conversion, Rowville — 7 conversions at a median gross yield after works of 7.21% against 7 at 6.46%. For a second dwelling, Frankston — 6 additions at 6.70% against 4 at 5.21%. Median purchase prices are $11,077 apart, so budget does not decide it.
Which Melbourne suburb has the highest rooming house yield in your data?
Rowville, at a median gross yield after works of 7.21% across 7 conversions (June 2023 – September 2025). Frankston's 7 conversions returned 6.46%. Gross yield excludes land tax, management, insurance, maintenance, vacancy and interest, and rooming houses carry materially higher management and compliance costs than a standard rental.
Which suburb is best for a granny flat, Frankston or Rowville?
Frankston, by a clear margin — 6 second-dwelling additions at a median gross yield after works of 6.70% against 4 at 5.21% in Rowville, despite Rowville's median lot being 126 sqm larger. Lot size opens the option; the local small-dwelling rental market prices it.
Does Rowville have a train station?
No. no station in the suburb; bus to Glen Waverley and Dandenong stations. Frankston has Frankston station, terminus of the Frankston line. That difference shapes the tenant pool for both strategies and is worth pricing before you compare yields.
What did PremiumRea pay in Rowville?
A median of $811,077 across 13 settlements (June 2023 – September 2025), on median land of 738 sqm, with a median works spend of $92,079 and a median rent after works of $1,150 a week. The median difference between purchase price and the November 2025 valuation was $90,000.
Is Frankston a high-yield suburb?
On our 17 settlements (February 2023 – September 2025) the median gross yield after works was 6.35%, and its second-dwelling subset of 6 additions returned 6.70% — the highest granny-flat median in our dataset for any suburb with at least four such additions. The suburb also supported 7 rooming-house conversions at 6.46%.
What are the rules for running a rooming house in Victoria?
An operator licence under the Rooming House Operators Act 2016 administered by Consumer Affairs Victoria, registration of the premises with the local council under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008, and compliance with the prescribed rooming house standards. Buildings accommodating the relevant number of residents generally fall into Class 1b under the National Construction Code. Planning permission for the use is a separate, site-level question.
Which has bigger blocks, Frankston or Rowville?
Rowville, by 126 sqm — median land of 738 sqm against 612 sqm across 13 and 17 settlements. Both clear the 300 m² threshold for the Victorian second-dwelling permit exemption comfortably.
How far are Frankston and Rowville from the CBD?
Frankston about 45 km in the City of Frankston with Frankston station, terminus of the Frankston line; Rowville about 25 km in the City of Knox with no station in the suburb; bus to Glen Waverley and Dandenong stations.
Why do the two suburbs have almost the same headline yield?
Because the strategy mixes offset each other. Frankston's blend leans on second dwellings where it is strong and Rowville's on rooming houses where it is strong, so the overall medians land 0.03% apart. Reading only the headline would tell you the suburbs are interchangeable, which is the opposite of what the strategy-level data says.
Should I choose a suburb or a strategy first?
Strategy, on our record. In our own data the works a block permitted moved the median gross yield by 0.51 to 1.03 percentage points inside a single suburb, and this pair goes further — the strategy choice reverses which suburb wins. Deciding the suburb first and the strategy second is how buyers end up executing the wrong playbook in the right postcode.
What renovation budget should I allow?
Our median works spend was $85,933 in Frankston across 17 settlements and $92,079 in Rowville across 13 (June 2023 – September 2025). Those medians blend three strategies, so plan against the figure for the strategy you are running rather than the suburb average.