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Suburb Insights · SA 5048

Dover Gardens, SA 5048 Property Profile

ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026

Suburb Overview

Dover Gardens is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,062, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 12 km from the Adelaide CBD, Dover Gardens is a middle ring area in South Australia. The median household income is $73,996 per year.

Investment Score

64 / 100 Good

Moderate income levels in Dover Gardens indicate steady rental demand from working households. The short commute to the city centre is a key demand driver.

Location

Adelaide
Dover Gardens
South Australia · 5048
12 km from Adelaide CBD
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Key Indicators

Postcode
5048

Official Australia Post postcode for Dover Gardens. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.

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Population
3,062

Usual resident population at the most recent census.

Median weekly rent
$339/wk

Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.

Median household income
$73,996/yr

Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.

Distance to CBD
12 km

Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.

Lifestyle & Amenities

Schools nearby
1

Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.

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Parks & green spaces
1

Estimated 1 park and green spaces near this suburb.

Median monthly mortgage
$1,733/mo

Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.

Home type
62% houses

Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.

Why People Like Living in Dover Gardens

Who Dover Gardens Suits

👨‍👩‍👧FamiliesSchool count or dwelling mix is lighter here.
📊InvestorsRent covers a solid share of the median mortgage.
🏡First-home buyersPrices sit above the South Australia median — stretch goal.
💼ProfessionalsAround 12 km from the CBD with good access.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
  • Solid transport links into employment hubs.
  • Established infrastructure and existing community base.

Cons

  • Fewer schools inside the suburb itself — verify catchments for neighbouring areas.
  • Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.

Investment Insight

3,062 residents places Dover Gardens squarely in the middle of the South Australia suburb size distribution (state median 3,699), with market depth comparable to most SA localities. Household income of $73,996/year is 9% below the South Australia median of $80,964, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Rent of $339/week (85% coverage of the $1,733/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $264/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. 12 km from Adelaide places Dover Gardens in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.

Investment Tip

Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. Local rents consume roughly 24% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.

Dover Gardens vs South Australia Median

How Dover Gardens stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Dover Gardens sits above the state median; negative means below.

MetricDover GardensSA medianΔ vs state
Population3,0623,699-17%
Median household income$73,996/yr$80,964/yr-9%
Median rent (weekly)$339$320+6%
Median mortgage (monthly)$1,733$1,616+7%
Distance to CBD12 km13 km-8%
Separate houses62%73%-11pp

Investor Checklist

Pre-inspection briefing for Dover Gardens — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.

Investment Strategy

⚠️
Buy & Hold

Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Dover Gardens's 3,062-person market and $73,996 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.

Rental Yield

Strong rental coverage: $339/week (~$1,469/month) covers 85% of the $1,733/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $264/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.

Renovation / Flip

Only 62% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 73% SA median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.

Risk Factors

Run the numbers on a Dover Gardens property

Full Property Analysis

30-year projections for Dover Gardens

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2026 Outlook

Growth: Low Rental Demand: Low Investor Sentiment: Moderate

Capital-growth expectations for Dover Gardens are modest for 2026 — incomes 9% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 3,062 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~85% of the typical mortgage ($1,469/month rent vs $1,733/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 64/100 places Dover Gardens in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dover Gardens a good suburb for investment?

Dover Gardens scores 64/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 3,062, median household income of $73,996/year and median weekly rent of $339. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.

What drives property demand in Dover Gardens?

The main demand drivers in Dover Gardens are proximity to Adelaide (12 km), a median household income of $73,996/year, a dwelling mix that is 62% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.

What is the population of Dover Gardens?

Dover Gardens has a usual resident population of approximately 3,062, compared with a South Australia suburb median of 3,699 — 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 Dover Gardens from the Adelaide CBD?

Dover Gardens sits 12 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.

What is the median rent in Dover Gardens?

The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $339 in Dover Gardens, equating to approximately $17,628/year in gross rental income (state median $320/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.

What is the typical mortgage repayment in Dover Gardens?

The median monthly mortgage repayment in Dover Gardens is $1,733, or approximately $20,796/year (vs $1,616/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 Dover Gardens cash-flow positive for investors?

A median weekly rent of $339 works out to $1,469/month, covering 85% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,733/month. That leaves a $264/month shortfall (around $3,168/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 Dover Gardens?

The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,062 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,733 median mortgage, the broader South Australia 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 Dover Gardens profile

Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.

Nearby Suburbs

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