Suburb Overview
Eltham North is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 6,830, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 20 km from the Melbourne CBD, Eltham North is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $144,040 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3095
Postcode for Eltham North, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
6,830
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$512/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
$144,040
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
20 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median house price
$1,220,000
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Median unit price
$1,151,500
Median unit sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,300/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
95% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Eltham North
- Well-connected to Melbourne at ~20 km from the CBD.
- Several schools in the area (around 2), attractive for families.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) within easy reach.
- Well-serviced by public transport and major roads.
- Predominantly separate houses (95%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
Who Eltham North Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) add to liveability.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
Cons
- Median mortgage sits above the Victoria state median — entry costs are stretched.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment Insight
6,830 residents places Eltham North squarely in the middle of the Victoria suburb size distribution (state median 7,416), with market depth comparable to most VIC localities. Median household income of $144,040/year runs 51% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160, indicating strong purchasing power and the type of demographic profile that tends to sustain premium property prices through market cycles. At the 2021 Census, median weekly rent of $512 equated to $2,219/month — about 96% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $2,300/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. 20 km from Melbourne places Eltham North in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs. Separate houses make up 95% of dwellings — 17 percentage points above the Victoria median of 78% — pointing to a family-oriented, land-rich market where value is concentrated in the underlying block.
Investment Tip
Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 18% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Eltham North vs Victoria Median
How Eltham North stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Eltham North sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Eltham North | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 6,830 | 7,416 | -8% |
| Median household income | $144,040/yr | $95,160/yr | +51% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $512 | $380 | +35% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,300 | $1,950 | +18% |
| Distance to CBD | 20 km | 32 km | -37% |
| Separate houses | 95% | 78% | +17pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Eltham North — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 6,830 residents — 92% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $144,040/year (+51% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $512/week rent (≈ $2,219/month) covered ~96% of the $2,300/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 20 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 95% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$230/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,300/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 18% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 51% above the Victoria suburb median ($144,040 vs $95,160), and the 20 km CBD distance keeps this suburb in the primary demand zone. In Victoria, suburbs with this profile have historically clustered in the upper tercile of 10-year capital growth.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $512/week (~$2,219/month) covered 96% of the $2,300/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $81/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
A dwelling mix skewed to houses (95% vs 78% VIC median) combined with a population of 6,830 creates a deeper market for value-add renovations — older stock, separate titles and stronger buyer competition are the usual pattern here.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $2,300/month median mortgage in Eltham North means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $230/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Premium-pricing risk: incomes 51% above the Victoria median ($144,040 vs $95,160) correlate with elevated purchase prices and compressed gross yields — enter only with a clear capital-growth thesis and a comfortable deposit.
- House-dominant stock: 95% of dwellings are separate houses, so value is concentrated in land — weather events, insurance repricing and land-tax changes hit investors here more directly than in a unit-heavy suburb.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Eltham North regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Eltham North with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Eltham North enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 51% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160 and a population of 6,830 give it the depth and purchasing power to outperform the wider VIC market over the next 12–18 months. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~96% of the typical mortgage ($2,219/month rent vs $2,300/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Eltham North is constructive 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 Eltham North a good suburb for investment?
Whether Eltham North suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 6,830, a median household income of $144,040/year and median weekly rent of $512. 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 Eltham North?
The main demand drivers in Eltham North are proximity to Melbourne (20 km), an above-state-median household income of $144,040/year, a dwelling mix that is 95% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Eltham North?
Eltham North has a usual resident population of approximately 6,830, 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 Eltham North from the Melbourne CBD?
Eltham North sits 20 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
What is the median rent in Eltham North?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $512 in Eltham North, equating to approximately $26,624/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 Eltham North?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Eltham North is $2,300, or approximately $27,600/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 Eltham North cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $512 works out to $2,219/month, covering 96% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,300/month. That leaves a $81/month shortfall (around $972/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 Eltham North?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,300 median mortgage, 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 Eltham North 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.