Suburb overview
Heatley is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,907, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 1112 km from the Brisbane CBD, Heatley is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $65,832 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
4814
Postcode for Heatley, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
3,907
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$520/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
1112 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,300/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
76% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Heatley
- Regional location about 1112 km from Brisbane.
- Predominantly separate houses (76%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Beach lifestyle with coastal walks and outdoor recreation on the doorstep.
Who Heatley suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Mortgage costs are lower than the Queensland median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Coastal lifestyle attracts renters and owner-occupiers alike.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (1112 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
Heatley is a smaller community of 3,907 — about 71% of the Queensland suburb median (5,474) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Heatley's median household income of $65,832/year is 27% below the Queensland suburb median ($90,298) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Median rent of $520/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $2,253/month — about 173% of the $1,300/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. Heatley is 1112 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
This suburb can suit investors targeting renter demand driven by lifestyle. Insurance, climate risk, and seasonal rental patterns all warrant a close look. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 22% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Heatley vs Queensland median
How Heatley stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Heatley sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Heatley | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,907 | 5,474 | -29% |
| Median household income | $65,832/yr | $90,298/yr | -27% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $280 | $385 | -27% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,300 | $1,733 | -25% |
| Distance to CBD | 1112 km | 62 km | +1694% |
| Separate houses | 76% | 77% | -1pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Heatley — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 3,907 residents — 71% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $65,832/year (-27% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $280/week rent (≈ $1,213/month) covered ~93% of the $1,300/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 1112 km straight-line from Brisbane (state suburb median 62 km).
- Dwelling mix: 76% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 77% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$130/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,300/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 22% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 27% below the QLD median ($65,832 vs $90,298) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $280/week (~$1,213/month) covered 93% of the $1,300/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $87/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 76% houses in a 3,907-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,300/month median mortgage in Heatley means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $130/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Heatley are 27% below the Queensland median ($65,832 vs $90,298), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 3,907 residents, Heatley has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Commute distance: at 1112 km from the nearest CBD, Heatley depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Heatley regardless of local market conditions.
Run the numbers on a Heatley property
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Start your journey near Heatley →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Heatley are modest for 2026 — incomes 27% below the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 3,907 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~93% of the typical mortgage ($1,213/month rent vs $1,300/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Heatley is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Queensland median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Heatley a good suburb for investment?
Whether Heatley suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 3,907, a median household income of $65,832/year and median weekly rent of $280. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Heatley?
The main demand drivers in Heatley are a median household income of $65,832/year, a dwelling mix that is 76% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Heatley?
Heatley has a usual resident population of approximately 3,907, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
How far is Heatley from the Brisbane CBD?
Heatley sits 1112 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
What is the median rent in Heatley?
The median weekly rent in Heatley is $520 (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)), equating to approximately $27,040/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Heatley?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Heatley is $1,300, or approximately $15,600/year (vs $1,733/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
Is Heatley cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $280 works out to $1,213/month, covering 93% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. That leaves a $87/month shortfall (around $1,044/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Heatley?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,907 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,300 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($65,832 vs $90,298 state median), the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Heatley profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.