Glen Waverley vs Noble Park: identical rooming-house yields, $42,182 apart
Glen Waverley or Noble Park — is the Glen Waverley premium worth it for an investor?
Short answer: Noble Park for the income, Glen Waverley only if you will eventually sell to an owner-occupier
Every settlement on both sides of this comparison was a rooming-house conversion, which makes it a rare like-for-like. Our 5 Glen Waverley conversions returned a median gross yield after works of 6.93% and our 4 Noble Park conversions 6.98% — a difference of 0.05%, which is nothing. Noble Park did it for $42,182 less on the median purchase price ($743,333 against $785,514) and on a median lot 135 sqm larger (819 sqm against 684 sqm). On income per dollar deployed, Noble Park wins on all three inputs. What Glen Waverley has is one of the strongest school catchments in the state — Glendal Primary School at #12 of 1,285 on 2025 NAPLAN and Glen Waverley Secondary College at #65 of 607 on 2025 VCE. A rooming house does not monetise a school catchment. A future owner-occupier buyer does.
The answer changes with your situation — here is each one, decided
You are maximising rooming-house income per dollar
Noble Park. Median gross yield after works of 6.98% across 4 conversions against 6.93% across 5, at $42,182 less on the median purchase price and 135 sqm more median land.
You plan to sell to an owner-occupier eventually
Glen Waverley. Glendal Primary School ranks #12 of 1,285 and Glen Waverley Secondary College ranks #65 of 607 on 2025 results, with 12 indexed schools against Noble Park's 7. That catchment is priced by family buyers and not by tenants.
You want the largest block
Noble Park, by 135 sqm — median land 819 sqm against 684 sqm. That matters if the conversion involves adding floor area rather than reconfiguring the existing footprint.
You want a conventional single-family rental
We cannot answer that from either column. Every one of our 9 settlements across the two suburbs was a rooming-house conversion, so nothing here describes what a standard rental returns.
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.
Here the rule shows up as an absence. Both suburbs are pure rooming-house records, so there is no strategy variation to observe — and with the strategy held constant, the two suburbs land 0.05% apart despite a $42,182 gap in median purchase price and one of the largest school-ranking gaps in the series. Hold the works constant and the suburb premium stops showing up in the income.
Glen Waverley vs Noble Park: what our own settlements record
| Glen Waverley | Noble Park | |
|---|---|---|
| PremiumRea settlements on record | 5 | 4 |
| Settlement window | October 2023 – May 2025 | November 2023 – June 2025 |
| Median purchase price | $785,514 | $743,333 |
| Median weekly rent after works | $1,120 | $1,150 |
| Median land size | 684 sqm | 819 sqm |
| Median works spend | $82,030 | $87,502 |
| Median total capital deployedpurchase price + works spend — this is the yield denominator | $884,925 | $833,989 |
| Median gross yield after worksweekly rent × 52 ÷ (purchase price + works spend); gross — excludes land tax, management, insurance, maintenance, vacancy and interest | 6.93% | 6.98% |
| Median purchase price to Nov 2025 valuationa dollar observation against one valuation round over 1–3 year holds, not a growth rate | $147,981 | $119,951 |
| Granny-flat additions (median gross yield after works) | none on record | none on record |
| Rooming-house conversions (median gross yield after works) | 5 · 6.93% | 4 · 6.98% |
| Cosmetic renovation only (median gross yield after works) | none on record | none on record |
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.
A pure like-for-like, and what it shows
5 of 5 Glen Waverley settlements and 4 of 4 Noble Park settlements were rooming-house conversions — every property on both sides. That removes the strategy-mix confound that muddies most suburb comparisons, and what remains is close to a clean read.
It reads 6.93% against 6.98%. Median rents after works were $1,120 and $1,150 a week, median works spend $82,030 and $87,502. The purchase price is where the two diverge — $42,182 — and that is the whole of the yield story, because the income side is effectively the same.
The Glen Waverley catchment, and who pays for it
Glendal Primary School at #12 of 1,285 and Glen Waverley Secondary College at #65 of 607 is a top-tier result on both measures, and Glen Waverley carries 12 indexed schools. Noble Park carries 7, with Harrisfield Primary School at #536 and Carwatha College P-12 at #206.
A rooming-house tenant does not pay for a school zone. So during the hold, the catchment is a cost — it is inside the $42,182 you paid extra — and it only becomes an asset at exit, when the buyer pool includes families who price the property as a home rather than as an income stream. Whether that trade works is a question about your holding period, and it is not one we forecast.
Location, and the compliance chain both require
Glen Waverley sits about 19 km from the CBD in the City of Monash with Glen Waverley station, terminus of the Glen Waverley line; Noble Park about 26 km in the City of Greater Dandenong with Noble Park station, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines. Both are well served, which is a precondition for the shared-accommodation demand these assets depend on.
Both require the same regulatory chain: 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, compliance with the prescribed rooming house standards, and generally Class 1b classification under the National Construction Code. Planning permission for the use is a separate site-level question and the first one to resolve.
Location, council and the second-dwelling pathway
| Glen Waverley | Noble Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Postcode | 3150 | 3174 |
| Distance from CBD | 19 km | 26 km |
| Council | City of Monash | City of Greater Dandenong |
| Rail access | Glen Waverley station, terminus of the Glen Waverley line | Noble Park station, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines |
| Second-dwelling pathway | Victorian Amendment VC253 applies | Victorian Amendment VC253 applies |
Schools: Glen Waverley vs Noble Park
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.
| Glen Waverley | Noble Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools in our indexed set | 12 | 7 |
| Strongest primary (NAPLAN rank) | Glendal Primary School · #12/1,285 | Harrisfield Primary School · #536/1,285 |
| Strongest secondary (VCE rank) | Glen Waverley Secondary College · #65/607 | Carwatha College P-12 · #206/607 |
Limits of this comparison
5 and 4 settlements respectively — small even by the standards of this series, and both entirely rooming-house records. Nothing here describes a conventional rental in either suburb. Neither suburb has a research profile page on this site, so there is no market estimate to sanity-check our settlements against. 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.
Glen Waverley vs Noble Park — frequently asked questions
Is Glen Waverley or Noble Park better for a rooming house?
Noble Park on income per dollar — a median gross yield after works of 6.98% across 4 conversions against 6.93% across 5 in Glen Waverley, at $42,182 less on the median purchase price and 135 sqm more median land.
Is Glen Waverley worth the premium for an investor?
Not during the hold, on our record — the median gross yields after works are 0.05% apart while the median purchase prices are $42,182 apart. The premium is a catchment premium, and a rooming-house tenant does not pay for a school zone. It can be worth it on exit if the buyer pool is owner-occupiers, which is a holding-period judgement rather than a yield one.
What are the best schools in Glen Waverley?
In our indexed set, Glendal Primary School at #12 of 1,285 on 2025 NAPLAN and Glen Waverley Secondary College at #65 of 607 on 2025 VCE results, out of 12 indexed schools in the suburb.
What yield do Noble Park rooming houses achieve?
Our 4 Noble Park conversions returned a median gross yield after works of 6.98% on a median purchase of $743,333 and a median rent of $1,150 a week (November 2023 – June 2025). 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.
What licences does a rooming house need 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.
Which has bigger blocks, Glen Waverley or Noble Park?
Noble Park, by 135 sqm — median land of 819 sqm against 684 sqm across our 4 and 5 settlements.
Has PremiumRea bought standard rentals in Glen Waverley?
Not in our published record. All 5 Glen Waverley settlements were rooming-house conversions. That reflects the briefs we were given rather than a judgement that other strategies do not work there.
How far is Glen Waverley from the Melbourne CBD?
About 19 km, in the City of Monash, with Glen Waverley station, terminus of the Glen Waverley line. Noble Park is about 26 km, in the City of Greater Dandenong, with Noble Park station, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines.
Do school zones increase rental income?
Not in this comparison. Glen Waverley holds one of the strongest catchments in the state and its median rooming-house gross yield after works came in 0.05% from Noble Park's on a purchase price $42,182 higher. Catchments are priced by owner-occupier buyers, which reaches the exit rather than the rent.
What did PremiumRea pay in Glen Waverley?
A median of $785,514 across 5 settlements (October 2023 – May 2025), on median land of 684 sqm, with a median works spend of $82,030 and a median rent after works of $1,120 a week. The median difference between purchase price and the November 2025 valuation was $147,981.
Is Noble Park a good area for investors?
On our 4 settlements (November 2023 – June 2025) it produced a median gross yield after works of 6.98% on a median purchase of $743,333 — cheaper than Glen Waverley, larger lots, effectively the same rooming-house yield. That is a strong income profile on a small sample, and the sample size is the caveat that matters.
How many settlements does this comparison rest on?
9 — 5 in Glen Waverley and 4 in Noble Park, drawn from our published dataset of 345 anonymised settlements (January 2023 – September 2025) at DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20095886. Both are small samples and the page should be read accordingly.