Get a property report and suburb profile for any property in Croydon

Croydon sits in Melbourne's outer east as an established suburb centred on a lively Main Street shopping strip and Croydon station on the Lilydale line. Tree-lined streets mix postwar weatherboard and brick houses with more recent townhouse infill, so you get roomy blocks in older pockets and denser options nearer the centre. Families are prominent here and the suburb is home to 28,608 people, with a median age of 39 and a median household income of $1,615 a week. About 73% of homes are owner-occupied, while renters make up 27.4% of dwellings.

Day-to-day life is shaped by local cafés and shops, sports reserves and neighbourhood parks, plus easy access to the Dandenong Ranges foothills and nearby bushland for outdoor recreation. Croydon has also seen major transport upgrades with the Coolstore Road level crossing removed and a new Croydon Transport Hub delivered, and the council-endorsed Community Wellbeing Precinct has begun converting former civic offices into community spaces with further stages enabled by matched government funding.

On the figures, housing costs in Croydon sit noticeably above what local households earned at the last Census. A house rent of $670 a week would take about 41.5% of a typical local household's weekly income at the last Census, while unit rent of $530 a week would take about 32.8%. That means house rents represent a large share of income and unit rents a sizeable share.

For buyers, the median house price of $894,500 is about 10.7 times a typical local household's annual income at the last Census, and the median unit price of $649,750 is about 7.7 times that annual income. Both sit well above local incomes on these figures.

Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's important to consider your own circumstances when deciding which suburb is right for you.

House values in Croydon rose 7.6% over the past 12 months and unit values rose 7.0% — both solid increases. Over the same period house rents climbed 6.3% and unit rents rose 3.9%, so rent growth for houses outpaced rent growth for units.

Put simply, the value figures point to capital growth for both property types this year, while the rent figures show rental income increased too but by less, particularly for units. Houses have been the stronger performer on both value and rent metrics over the past year; whether that pattern fits your goals depends on what you want from an investment.

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.