Is Brighton East a nice place to live?

Brighton East has tree-lined streets, Dendy Park and several sports reserves, with local shopping pockets and bus routes plus nearby Sandringham line stations. It is an older, relatively affluent community where most homes are owner-occupied and many families are couples with children (53.2%). Parks and reserves provide regular space for walking and weekend sport, local shops are complemented by larger café and retail strips in neighbouring Brighton and Bentleigh, and the Halcyon Village redevelopment was delivered by HousingFirst.

Is it expensive to live in Brighton East?

A typical local household earned about $2,544 a week at the last Census. At a median house price of $1,911,000, buying a house in Brighton East works out to about 14.4 times a typical local annual household income, which sits well above local incomes. If you're renting, the picture is different: a house rent of $1,100 a week would take about 43% of that weekly household income, a large share, while a unit at $683 a week would take about 27%, a moderate share. On these figures, renting a unit looks more manageable than buying a house for someone on a typical local income, but whether that feels expensive depends on your own circumstances. Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's important to consider your own circumstances when deciding which suburb is right for you.

Is Brighton East a good place to invest?

In Brighton East, house values rose a strong 10.5% over the last 12 months while house rents climbed a modest 4.8%; unit values rose a solid 8.3% and unit rents increased a solid 5.1%. For houses, capital growth outpaced rental income, and the same is true for units. House value growth was larger than unit value growth, while unit rents edged slightly ahead of house rents. This information has been prepared without taking your objectives, needs and overall financial situation into account. It is not meant to be a substitute for professional financial advice. For this reason, you should consider the appropriateness of the information and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.

Get a property report and suburb profile for any property in Brighton East

Please enter your address and select an option from the list.

Join the 2.6 million Australians* who use our services every year.

Brighton East suburb profile

Brighton East is a leafy suburb in Melbourne's south-east near Port Phillip Bay, with tree-lined streets and garden settings. Housing ranges from interwar and post-war cottages to contemporary rebuilds, often on generous blocks, giving the suburb a settled, domestic character with pockets of newer architecture.

Dendy Park and several sports reserves provide open space for walking and weekend sport, while local shopping pockets are complemented by larger café and retail strips in neighbouring Brighton and Bentleigh. Public transport is provided by bus routes and nearby stations on the Sandringham line, keeping the area well connected without sacrificing its quiet residential feel.

Brighton East property market performance

Property growth+9.4%Past 12 months

Brighton East's median house price is $1.91 million and house values rose sharply over the last 12 months, up 10.5%. There is no reliable median for units because too few units have sold here recently for a median to be published; only 10 units changed hands in the last 3 months. Units sold faster than houses, with a median days on market of 32.

In Brighton East, house rents rose modestly over the last 12 months, up 4.8%, while house values ran ahead of rents.

	Houses	Units
Median price Past 3 months	$1.91M	N/A
Change in value Past 12 months	10.5%	8.3%
Sold Past 3 months	57	10
Median days on market Past 12 months	55	32
Average rent Past 12 months	$1100	$683
Change in rent Past 12 months	4.8%	5.1%

5 year median price trend for houses and units

Access homes before they're listed for sale

Build a buying brief and get first access to properties that aren't yet on the market.

Brighton East demographics

Brighton East is an older community with incomes above the median for Victoria.

Most families are couples with children (53.2%), and most homes are owner-occupied. At the 2021 Census 16,757 people lived in Brighton East.

Brighton East and Victoria

	Suburb	VIC
Median age years	45	38
Median household income weekly	$2,544	$1,759
Couples with children share of families	53.2%	45.5%
Couples without children share of families	32.8%	37.6%
One-parent families share of families	13.2%	15.2%
Homes owned outright share of homes	43.0%	33.2%
Homes with a mortgage share of homes	36.3%	37.3%
Homes rented share of homes	20.7%	29.5%

Source: ABS 2021 Census. Shares of homes exclude other and not-stated tenure.

Brighton East infrastructure, key developments and investment opportunities

Brighton East's Halcyon Village redevelopment, delivered by HousingFirst, replaced the ageing Halcyon seniors' village with a staged renewal creating about 152 homes; construction was staged from October 2021 with handovers through 2023–24 and completion in 2024.

Bayside City Council delivered the Brighton East Village streetscape upgrade in staged works across 2019–20, installing new concrete footpaths, and a Thomas Street pedestrian operated signal was installed and completed in 2022.

Suburbs near Brighton East

Some popular suburbs near Brighton East include:

How does Brighton East compare to nearby suburbs?

Median house prices: Brighton East’s median house price is 20.3% higher than Caulfield South’s.
House price growth: Over the past 12 months, house prices in Brighton East have grown 5.9% higher than in Caulfield South.
Unit price growth: Over the past 12 months, unit prices in Brighton East have grown 16.9% higher than in Gardenvale.
Selling speed for houses: Properties in nearby Caulfield South are selling 12.7% faster than in Brighton East.
Selling speed for units: Properties in Brighton East are selling 65.6% faster than in Gardenvale.
Investment considerations: In Brighton East, the rental yield for house is 73.0% higher than the Melbourne average, while the rental yield for units is 14.8% higher.
House price growth: Over the past 12 months, house prices in Brighton East have grown 104.6% higher than the average rate of growth across Melbourne.
Unit price growth:Over the past 12 months, unit prices in Brighton East have grown 76.7% higher than the average rate of growth for units across Melbourne.

Common questions about Brighton East

Is Brighton East a nice place to live?
Brighton East has tree-lined streets, Dendy Park and several sports reserves, with local shopping pockets and bus routes plus nearby Sandringham line stations.

It is an older, relatively affluent community where most homes are owner-occupied and many families are couples with children (53.2%). Parks and reserves provide regular space for walking and weekend sport, local shops are complemented by larger café and retail strips in neighbouring Brighton and Bentleigh, and the Halcyon Village redevelopment was delivered by HousingFirst.
Is it expensive to live in Brighton East?
A typical local household earned about $2,544 a week at the last Census. At a median house price of $1,911,000, buying a house in Brighton East works out to about 14.4 times a typical local annual household income, which sits well above local incomes.

If you're renting, the picture is different: a house rent of $1,100 a week would take about 43% of that weekly household income, a large share, while a unit at $683 a week would take about 27%, a moderate share. On these figures, renting a unit looks more manageable than buying a house for someone on a typical local income, but whether that feels expensive depends on your own circumstances.

Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's important to consider your own circumstances when deciding which suburb is right for you.
Is Brighton East a good place to invest?
In Brighton East, house values rose a strong 10.5% over the last 12 months while house rents climbed a modest 4.8%; unit values rose a solid 8.3% and unit rents increased a solid 5.1%. For houses, capital growth outpaced rental income, and the same is true for units. House value growth was larger than unit value growth, while unit rents edged slightly ahead of house rents.

This information has been prepared without taking your objectives, needs and overall financial situation into account. It is not meant to be a substitute for professional financial advice. For this reason, you should consider the appropriateness of the information and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.

Choose the right real estate agents in Brighton East

There are 142 real estate agents in Brighton East, but they don’t all deliver the same results.

Some agents have a much stronger presence in the suburb, with just 5 agents handling around 24.4% of all sales in the past year.

Commission rates in Brighton East typically range from 1.55% to 2.61%. Comparing agents—including what they charge, what’s included, and how they structure their fees—is not only important when choosing an agent, the right structure can help ensure your chosen agent is motivated to achieve the best possible result.