Find the right place to live with suburb research cheat sheets

For those in the market to buy, rent, invest or build, chances are you want to know whether the location you’ve picked is a sound investment. Or maybe you just like to keep across the latest housing and property data in any given area.

Regardless of your reasoning, it’s a good idea to be aware of how the market is acting in whichever suburb you’re interested in.

What is a suburb profile?

A suburb profile is a page that gives readers an overview of the investor, demand, geographic and some demographic data, including price trends and links to neighbouring suburbs.

Suburb profile pages are crucial reading for those looking to purchase in a particular area as they’ll give an idea of how well a property is priced, compared to similar homes in that specific local market.

Trends and histories of local markets can also be vital information during times of market fluctuations.

What information do suburb profiles have?

realestate.com.au’s suburb profile pages are powered by PropTrack with the latest data about price and demand that can be split by rent and buy as well as houses and units.

Readers can filter down to properties with a specific number of bedrooms for different property types, including units and houses.

Median house price

The median property price is a crucial part of understanding any suburb.

The median price is more reliable than the average price because it’s not skewed by very low and very high sale prices, which can dramatically affect results on any given month.

On a suburb profile page, there will be a median price for stand-alone houses as well as one for units.

Depending on which property type you’re interested in, the median price will quickly tell you whether the suburb is affordable according to your budget.

Those looking for townhouses, apartments and units will be able to afford properties in more suburbs because the median price for these types is lower than stand-alone houses.

How many properties are available

The number of properties available to buy in the suburb will be an indicator of how lively the property market is there.

Comparing one suburb to those next to it will give you an idea of how many people are coming and going, as well as the number of units vs stand-alone houses.

Available properties are those that are currently on the market and listed on realestate.com.au.

How many interested buyers

Interested buyers are defined by realestate.com.au and PropTrack’s data science model which grades users by logging how many are interacting with listings, viewing floorplans and returning to the same listing a number of times.

The number of interested buyers is a good representation of how many people are seriously looking at homes in that suburb.

Days on the market

Days on market refers to the time a listing is live on realestate.com.au’s listing portal.

A lower number means that properties are being snapped by buyers and a higher number means buyers are taking their time.

Market fluctuations can cause these numbers to change. Days on market might increase as buyers are put off by interest rate rises, which would lead them to be more cautious before putting in an offer.

Days on market will generally decrease as the property market gets hotter. Competition between buyers generally means they’ll put in offers faster – as they did during the Covid pandemic.

Rental yield

Yield is an investment term used to describe the calculation of the future income of a property.

Read our full guide to learn more about what yield is and what it could mean for your investment.

How do you know if a suburb is good?

There are two ways of looking at whether a suburb is good. Firstly, a good suburb is one that’s right for you according to your individual selection criteria.

Secondly, you can also look at demand data to see how popular the average listing is in that suburb compared to neighbouring or similar ones.

The general rule in real estate is that popular suburbs command higher prices, whereas suburbs that don’t have as much interest will be more affordable.

One popular investment strategy is to purchase property in an affordable area that’s likely to become more popular over time, which maximises the potential for capital growth.

And there’s an easy way to find out that information with suburb profile pages:

By looking at the ‘interested buyers’ field in a suburb profile page you can compare the likely demand for properties in that area.

For example, Red Head NSW currently has 322 interested buyers looking for houses and a median price of $1.075m, whereas Wallabi Point nearby has 158 interested buyers and a median price of $995k.

So while many factors around choosing a suburb are subjective, suburb profile pages can provide insight into how the suburb stacks up as an investment location.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when deciding if a suburb is right for you:

1. Decide on the local amenities you need

When it comes to desirable amenities, these are as unique as each buyer. Some people want to live near parks and green spaces, while others prefer to be close to shops and cafes.

Take a look at how you live your life and what makes you happy when narrowing down your list of musthave nearby amenities.

2. Figure out which school zone you want

School zones can have massive impacts on property prices – just ask any parent trying to get their child into a particular state school.

Schools with a good reputation can often drive up property prices as well as rents in an area as more families attempt to get their kids a place.

There are two methods of finding homes within a specific school zone in Australia:

1. Type into a search engine: “property.com.au [name of school]” and you’ll find a complete list of all the properties available for rent or sale.

2. Scroll down to the bottom of a listing on realestate.com.au to instantly see

3. Does it have acceptable transport connections?

Factoring in travel time is crucial before you set your heart on any one suburb or property, weighing up the cost saved by being further away versus the time saved by being closer.

Daily commute times can really add up if you don’t live close to your workplace and potentially affect your emotional health and wellbeing if too much time is spent away from your family.

While it’s difficult to put a price on spending time with your loved ones, it’s an important part of the equation when deciding whether a property is right for you.

However, what also needs to be factored in is whether the time commute is likely to be productive. Those needing to do regular overtime could potentially add more quality time with the family if they no longer need to do overtime once they get home.

4. Is it close to friends and family?

Just as proximity to work is important, so too is proximity to loved ones.

Depending on your lifestyle and the need for support from others for babysitting, care, as well socialising time in general – being close to your network of loved ones can definitely impact your quality of life so shouldn’t be dismissed.

Furthermore, while the houses might be cheaper further away from your circle of friends or family, you might end up spending more over the long run in both time and money if you’re continually driving back and forth between suburbs.

5. Research any future development plans

There’s nothing worse than finding a dream spot only to find there are plans afoot for dramatic changes.

Do your research early when deciding between suburbs by calling the council and checking whether there are significant developments planned for the near to medium future.

6. Spent time there

At the end of the day, you can do all the research in the world on a suburb but nothing is as good as spending time there to get the feel for whether you like it or not.

Take a walk down the main strip of shops, visit the local cafes, and even do a shop at the local supermarket to really get an idea of what it’s like to be a local.