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

Brunswick East mixes leafy, tree-lined streets of Victorian terraces and weatherboard cottages with converted warehouses and medium-density apartments, and has a lively local retail and dining scene centred on Lygon Street and nearby shopping strips with cafés, small bars and craft breweries. Merri Creek and the CERES community park give the suburb generous green space, walking tracks and community activity, and trams run along the main roads, making the inner city easy to reach. The area tends to attract long-term locals, young professionals, creatives and families; the median age is 33 and a slight majority of dwellings are rented (54.5%), so you’ll find a mix of renters and longer-term residents.

Brunswick East is also seeing several council-led active-transport and open-space projects, from permanent shared zones beside Fleming Park and a boardwalk linking Sumner Park to the Capital City Trail, to upgrades at Sumner Park pavilion, Fisher Reserve playspace and CERES’ community centre, plus planned pocket parks and work at Abrahams Reserve and the local primary school. If you value nearby parks and walking tracks alongside cafés, bars and good tram links, that combination is what the suburb offers; whether it suits you depends on what you’re after.

Buying and renting tell different stories in Brunswick East. At a median $1,330,000, a house works out to about 12.3 times a typical local household's annual income at the last Census, which sits well above what people there earned then. A median unit price of $510,000 is about 4.7 times a local year's household income, so buying a unit is somewhat above local incomes. On rents, the average house rent of $828 a week would take about 39.7% of a typical local household's weekly income at the last Census, a sizeable share, while the average unit rent of $590 a week is about 28.3% of that income, a moderate share. 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.

Over the past 12 months, Brunswick East showed a split between rents and prices. House rents rose 6.2% and unit rents rose 7.3%, which are solid increases, while median house values fell 0.9% and unit values fell 1.3%, small declines over the year.

Put simply, rental income grew more strongly than capital values in the last 12 months. Units delivered the faster rent growth but also the slightly larger value decline; houses saw a marginally smaller fall in value. Which of those outcomes matters to you will depend on whether you prioritise rental income or capital growth.

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.