Suburb Overview
Hotham Heights is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 128, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 213 km from the Melbourne CBD, Hotham Heights is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $109,564 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3741
Postcode for Hotham Heights, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
128
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$470/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
$109,564
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
213 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$834/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
N/A
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Hotham Heights is a smaller community of 128 — about 2% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Median household income of $109,564/year runs 15% 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 $470 equated to $2,037/month — about 244% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $834/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. Hotham Heights is 213 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Hotham Heights vs Victoria Median
How Hotham Heights stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Hotham Heights sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Hotham Heights | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 128 | 7,416 | -98% |
| Median household income | $109,564/yr | $95,160/yr | +15% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $470 | $380 | +24% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $834 | $1,950 | -57% |
| Distance to CBD | 213 km | 32 km | +566% |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Hotham Heights — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 128 residents — 2% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $109,564/year (+15% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $470/week rent (≈ $2,037/month) covered ~244% of the $834/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 213 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Home mix: the housing-type split was not captured — verify on the ground.
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$83/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $834/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: a small population of 128 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $470/week (~$2,037/month) covered 244% of the $834/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.
With a population of 128, the resale market in Hotham Heights may not reliably reward cosmetic renovations — a longer hold is typically a better strategy at this scale, letting land-value appreciation do the work instead.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $834/month median mortgage in Hotham Heights means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $83/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 128 residents, Hotham Heights 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 213 km from the nearest CBD, Hotham Heights 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 Hotham Heights regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Hotham Heights 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
Capital-growth expectations for Hotham Heights are modest for 2026 — incomes 15% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 128 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~244% of the typical mortgage ($2,037/month rent vs $834/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Hotham Heights is balanced 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 Hotham Heights a good suburb for investment?
Whether Hotham Heights suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 128, a median household income of $109,564/year and median weekly rent of $470. 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 Hotham Heights?
The main demand drivers in Hotham Heights are an above-state-median household income of $109,564/year. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Hotham Heights?
Hotham Heights has a usual resident population of approximately 128, 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 Hotham Heights from the Melbourne CBD?
Hotham Heights sits 213 km straight-line from the Melbourne 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 Hotham Heights?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $470 in Hotham Heights, equating to approximately $24,440/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 Hotham Heights?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Hotham Heights is $834, or approximately $10,008/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 Hotham Heights cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $470 works out to $2,037/month, covering 244% of the median mortgage repayment of $834/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $1,203/month, so on these numbers Hotham Heights 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 Hotham Heights?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (128 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $834 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 Hotham Heights 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.