Suburb Overview
Dandenong South is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 125, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 33 km from the Melbourne CBD, Dandenong South is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $42,692 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3164
Postcode for Dandenong South, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
125
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$245/wk
Median weekly rent recorded at the 2021 Census — market rents have risen since, so treat this as a dated baseline, not a current figure.
Median household income
$42,692
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
33 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$767/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
24% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Dandenong South is a smaller community of 125 — about 2% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Dandenong South's median household income of $42,692/year is 55% below the Victoria suburb median ($95,160) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. At the 2021 Census, median weekly rent of $245 equated to $1,062/month — about 138% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $767/month. Both figures have moved substantially since 2021, so treat the ratio as a historical signal that this suburb leaned cash-flow-friendly, and verify against current listings and rates. At 33 km from Melbourne, Dandenong South is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price. Only 24% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
Dandenong South vs Victoria Median
How Dandenong South stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Dandenong South sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Dandenong South | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 125 | 7,416 | -98% |
| Median household income | $42,692/yr | $95,160/yr | -55% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $245 | $380 | -36% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $767 | $1,950 | -61% |
| Distance to CBD | 33 km | 32 km | +3% |
| Separate houses | 24% | 78% | -54pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Dandenong South — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 125 residents — 2% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $42,692/year (-55% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $245/week rent (≈ $1,062/month) covered ~138% of the $767/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 33 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 24% separate houses — unit-heavy market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$77/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $767/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 30% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 125 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $245/week (~$1,062/month) covered 138% of the $767/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $0/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
Only 24% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% VIC 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
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $767/month median mortgage in Dandenong South means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $77/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Dandenong South are 55% below the Victoria median ($42,692 vs $95,160), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 125 residents, Dandenong South 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.
- Dandenong South is 33 km from the CBD — not close enough to benefit from the inner-ring pricing halo, so growth depends more heavily on local infrastructure decisions and the wider Victoria market cycle.
- Strata exposure: only 24% of dwellings in Dandenong South are separate houses, so most investment stock is apartments or townhouses subject to body-corporate fees, sinking-fund levies and competing supply from new developments.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Dandenong South are modest for 2026 — incomes 55% below the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 125 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~138% of the typical mortgage ($1,062/month rent vs $767/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Dandenong South is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dandenong South a good suburb for investment?
Whether Dandenong South suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 125, a median household income of $42,692/year and median weekly rent of $245. 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 Dandenong South?
The main demand drivers in Dandenong South are a median household income of $42,692/year, a dwelling mix that is 24% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Dandenong South?
Dandenong South has a usual resident population of approximately 125, compared with a Victoria suburb median of 7,416 — 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 Dandenong South from the Melbourne CBD?
Dandenong South sits 33 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is an outer-metro location; local employment and infrastructure announcements tend to move prices more than CBD connectivity alone.
What is the median rent in Dandenong South?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $245 in Dandenong South, equating to approximately $12,740/year in gross rental income (state median $380/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 Dandenong South?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Dandenong South is $767, or approximately $9,204/year (vs $1,950/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 Dandenong South cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $245 works out to $1,062/month, covering 138% of the median mortgage repayment of $767/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $295/month, so on these numbers Dandenong South leans cash-flow-positive before accounting for strata, council rates, insurance and maintenance. 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 Dandenong South?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (125 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $767 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($42,692 vs $95,160 state median), a unit-heavy dwelling mix (24% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Victoria 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 Dandenong South profile
The population, postcode, median household income, and dwelling mix on this page are real figures from the ABS 2021 Census (income is the ABS median weekly household income annualised) and Australia Post. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage repayment are 2021 figures and are clearly labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. 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.