Looking to invest in affordable property in Melbourne? The city is cheaper than it was a year ago, and that is where any investment case here has to start.

According to Cotality data to the end of August 2026, Melbourne's median dwelling value is $786,718, down 4.7 per cent over the past year and 6.8 per cent below its March 2022 peak. Houses sit at $920,432, down 5.7 per cent over the year, and units at $629,054, down 2.5 per cent.

Melbourne has now been below that peak for more than four years, so an investor looking at the city is buying into a market that has been falling rather than rising.

The other side of the ledger is income. Melbourne's gross rental yield is 4.0 per cent, ahead of both Sydney on 3.3 per cent and Brisbane on 3.4 per cent.

Borrowing costs are the open question. As at 3 September 2026, Canstar's tracker of the big four banks had ANZ, CBA and NAB all expecting the next cash rate move to be a rise, while Westpac expected a cut in August 2027.

The ten suburbs below come from Domain's cheapest-suburbs data for the 2025-26 financial year. They are chosen for investors rather than by price alone, so every one of them carries a median price, growth over one year and over five, a weekly rent and a yield.

Top 10 cheapest suburbs to buy in Melbourne

These are the top 10 cheapest suburbs in Melbourne to buy a house, according to Domain data for the 12 months to June 2026.

These are the top 10 cheapest suburbs in Melbourne to buy a unit, according to Domain data for the 12 months to June 2026.

Those two lists rank on price alone. The ten suburbs below are drawn from the wider data set and chosen for the combination of entry price, yield and growth, and each one carries a full set of figures.

Three of the five unit picks are worth less than they were five years ago, and two of them fell over the past year. The case for those suburbs rests on the rent they return rather than on what has happened to their value.

Dallas (Houses)

• Median Sale Price: $620,000
• Annual Growth: +10.7%
• 5-Year Growth: +26.5%
• Rental Yield: 4.2%
• Median Weekly Rent: $505

Dallas has a house median of $620,000 and a median weekly rent of $505, which works out at a yield of 4.2 per cent, the second highest of our five house picks. The median rose 10.7 per cent over the past year and 26.5 per cent over five years, so the rent and the capital value have both been working here.

The suburb sits in Melbourne's north next to Broadmeadows, a flat grid of single-storey post-war brick and weatherboard homes on medium-sized blocks. Local shops, schools, small parks and sporting ovals handle the everyday, while Broadmeadows supplies the bigger shopping centre and the train connection. Bus routes and arterial roads put the northern employment areas within reach, and roughly a third of homes in the suburb are rented.

Travancore (Units)

• Median Sale Price: $370,000
• Annual Growth: +5.0%
• 5-Year Growth: -3.6%
• Rental Yield: 7.6%
• Median Weekly Rent: $540

Travancore carries the highest yield on this page at 7.6 per cent, on a unit median of $370,000 and a median weekly rent of $540. It is also the cheapest of our ten picks. The median rose 5.0 per cent over the past year, but it remains 3.6 per cent below where it sat five years ago, so the longer record is still negative.

This is a compact inner-city pocket between Flemington and Parkville, quiet and residential, where Victorian and Edwardian cottages, interwar terraces and more recent townhouses sit side by side. Parkland and the Flemington Racecourse precinct are close, and trams and nearby stations run to the CBD. The unit market is by far the more active of the two here, with houses rarely changing hands.

Jacana (Houses)

• Median Sale Price: $630,000
• Annual Growth: +9.0%
• 5-Year Growth: +12.0%
• Rental Yield: 4.3%
• Median Weekly Rent: $520

Jacana returns the highest house yield on this page at 4.3 per cent, with a median weekly rent of $520 against a median price of $630,000. The median rose 9.0 per cent over the past year and 12.0 per cent over five years, a slower five-year climb than the other two northern house picks. The rent is doing more of the work here than the capital value.

Jacana is a small, established residential pocket in Melbourne's north, close to Broadmeadows and Glenroy and framed by quiet streets and neighbourhood reserves. Housing runs to modest single-storey brick and weatherboard homes with neat front yards and a scattering of units. Community parks, sports ovals and a handful of convenience shops serve the suburb day to day, and rented homes make up close to two in five dwellings.

Notting Hill (Units)

• Median Sale Price: $429,000
• Annual Growth: +22.6%
• 5-Year Growth: +7.1%
• Rental Yield: 6.6%
• Median Weekly Rent: $543

Notting Hill posts the strongest 12-month figure on this page, up 22.6 per cent to a unit median of $429,000, and it commands the highest median weekly rent of our ten picks at $543. The yield is 6.6 per cent. The five-year gain is 7.1 per cent, so the past year accounts for the whole of that longer rise and more, and the four years before it went the other way.

The suburb is a small pocket of Melbourne's south east between Oakleigh, Clayton and Mulgrave, where light industrial and commercial land sits alongside compact residential streets. Post-war brick bungalows and modest weatherboard cottages mix with newer townhouse infill. Oakleigh's village shopping and the larger retail precincts nearby are close at hand, public transport and arterial roads are practical, and small parks keep the residential streets quieter.

Broadmeadows (Houses)

• Median Sale Price: $640,000
• Annual Growth: +10.3%
• 5-Year Growth: +20.8%
• Rental Yield: 4.1%
• Median Weekly Rent: $500

Broadmeadows is not in the table above. It ranks fourteenth in Domain's Melbourne house data at $640,000, just outside the cheapest ten, and it is here on its figures rather than its price: a yield of 4.1 per cent on a median weekly rent of $500, with the median up 10.3 per cent over the past year and 20.8 per cent over five years.

Broadmeadows is a practical working suburb in Melbourne's north built around its town centre and the station on the Craigieburn line, mixing post-war houses and public housing with newer townhouse and apartment infill beside light industry and business parks. Hume City Council is preparing a precinct roadmap under Project Broadmeadows, Homes Victoria is building the Banksia Gardens social housing project, and the Meadowlink shared-use path is part of the same revitalisation.

Williams Landing (Units)

• Median Sale Price: $382,500
• Annual Growth: -7.8%
• 5-Year Growth: -8.5%
• Rental Yield: 6.7%
• Median Weekly Rent: $490

Williams Landing has fallen the furthest of our picks over the past year, down 7.8 per cent to a unit median of $382,500, and it sits 8.5 per cent below its level of five years ago. What it offers against that is income: a median weekly rent of $490 and a yield of 6.7 per cent, the second highest on this page.

This is a modern, master-planned suburb in Melbourne's west, laid out around its train station and a compact town centre. Contemporary detached homes, townhouses and apartments sit among pocket parks, playgrounds and landscaped wetlands along Skeleton Creek. A business park and a neighbourhood shopping centre supply local jobs and everyday services, and shared paths and green corridors run between the two.

Laverton (Houses)

• Median Sale Price: $620,000
• Annual Growth: +5.1%
• 5-Year Growth: +7.8%
• Rental Yield: 4.0%
• Median Weekly Rent: $480

Laverton sits in the house table at $620,000, with a median weekly rent of $480 for a yield of 4.0 per cent. Its growth record is the quietest of our five house picks, the smallest figure on each measure: up 5.1 per cent over the past year and 7.8 per cent over five years. It is one of three suburbs sharing that $620,000 median in the house table.

Laverton is a practical working suburb in Melbourne's west where established residential streets meet light industrial land and pockets of newer townhouse infill. Port Phillip Bay and the wetlands nearby give it foreshore reserves and shared paths, and Laverton station on the Werribee line is a direct rail link. The housing stock runs to modest mid-century brick homes and more recent units, with local shops and community facilities close by.

Essendon North (Units)

• Median Sale Price: $411,000
• Annual Growth: +4.6%
• 5-Year Growth: -12.4%
• Rental Yield: 6.4%
• Median Weekly Rent: $505

Essendon North carries the weakest five-year figure on this page, sitting 12.4 per cent below its level of five years ago, although the unit median rose 4.6 per cent over the past year to $411,000. A median weekly rent of $505 gives a yield of 6.4 per cent, so the income here is strong and the capital record is not.

Essendon North is a quietly residential pocket of Melbourne's inner north west, beside Essendon and close to Essendon Airport and its commercial precinct, with tree-lined streets of post-war weatherboard and brick houses, period bungalows and some contemporary infill. The North Essendon Activity Centre Plan sets building height and activity centre rules for the Keilor Road and Mount Alexander Road cores, and Moonee Valley Council has finalised a Keilor Road streetscape plan.

Melton (Houses)

• Median Sale Price: $557,000
• Annual Growth: +16.0%
• 5-Year Growth: +33.6%
• Rental Yield: 3.8%
• Median Weekly Rent: $410

Melton is the cheapest house market in the data at $557,000 and carries the strongest 12-month house figure on this page, up 16.0 per cent, with a gain of 33.6 per cent over five years. The trade-off is the income: a median weekly rent of $410 gives a yield of 3.8 per cent, the lowest of our ten picks. This is Melton itself, not the separate suburb of Melton South.

The suburb sits in the outer west, in the City of Melton, where a compact historic shopping and civic precinct is ringed by large newer estates, so older weatherboard and brick homes near the main street give way to contemporary family houses further out. Melton railway station on the Ballarat line and the main road connections make the commute workable, and sporting clubs, parks and creekside open space hold on to a semi-rural feel.

Cairnlea (Units)

• Median Sale Price: $407,500
• Annual Growth: -2.1%
• 5-Year Growth: +1.2%
• Rental Yield: 6.4%
• Median Weekly Rent: $498

Cairnlea has been the flattest of our unit picks. The median slipped 2.1 per cent over the past year to $407,500 and is up just 1.2 per cent over five years, so values there have gone almost nowhere. A median weekly rent of $498 gives a yield of 6.4 per cent, level with Essendon North and the equal lowest of our five unit picks.

A large lake with wetlands and parks around it gives Cairnlea its shape, and the streets running off that open space are mostly modern low-set brick houses and townhouse clusters with front gardens and playgrounds. Shared walking and cycling paths thread through it. Local shops, schools, sports fields and community facilities handle daily life, and nearby stations and arterial roads carry commuters into the wider west.

Where is this data from?

The data is collected from Domain and covers the 12 months from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.

Annual growth compares that period with the 12 months to June 2025, and five-year growth compares it with the 12 months to June 2021.

A suburb is included only if it recorded at least 10 sales over the 12-month period. A small number of suburbs were excluded where the median sale price appeared to be in error.

Median rent is the middle value of the weekly asking rents Domain captured over the 12 months.

Rental yield is the median asking rent multiplied by 52 weeks, divided by the median sale price.

Frequently asked questions about affordable suburbs in Melbourne