Suburb Overview
Kooyong is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 842, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 7 km from the Melbourne CBD, Kooyong is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $167,336 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3144
Postcode for Kooyong, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
842
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$590/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
$167,336
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
7 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median unit price
$3,215,000
Median unit sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$3,425/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
37% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Kooyong is a smaller community of 842 — about 11% 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 $167,336/year runs 76% 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, rent of $590/week covered 75% of the $3,425/month median mortgage recorded at the same Census, leaving a gap of roughly $868/month at the time. Rents and repayments have both risen since — re-run the numbers with current figures before drawing conclusions. At 7 km from the Melbourne CBD, Kooyong sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 37% 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.
Kooyong vs Victoria Median
How Kooyong stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Kooyong sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Kooyong | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 842 | 7,416 | -89% |
| Median household income | $167,336/yr | $95,160/yr | +76% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $590 | $380 | +55% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $3,425 | $1,950 | +76% |
| Distance to CBD | 7 km | 32 km | -78% |
| Separate houses | 37% | 78% | -41pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Kooyong — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 842 residents — 11% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $167,336/year (+76% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $590/week rent (≈ $2,557/month) covered ~75% of the $3,425/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 7 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 37% separate houses — unit-heavy market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$343/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $3,425/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 76% above the Victoria suburb median ($167,336 vs $95,160), and the 7 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.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $590/week covered 75% of a $3,425/month mortgage, a $868/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
Only 37% 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 $3,425/month median mortgage in Kooyong means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $343/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Premium-pricing risk: incomes 76% above the Victoria median ($167,336 vs $95,160) correlate with elevated purchase prices and compressed gross yields — enter only with a clear capital-growth thesis and a comfortable deposit.
- Liquidity risk: with 842 residents, Kooyong 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.
- Strata exposure: only 37% of dwellings in Kooyong 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.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Kooyong regardless of local market conditions.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Kooyong enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 76% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160 and a population of 842 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 ~75% of the typical mortgage ($2,557/month rent vs $3,425/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Kooyong 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 Kooyong a good suburb for investment?
Whether Kooyong suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 842, a median household income of $167,336/year and median weekly rent of $590. 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 Kooyong?
The main demand drivers in Kooyong are proximity to Melbourne (7 km), an above-state-median household income of $167,336/year, a dwelling mix that is 37% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Kooyong?
Kooyong has a usual resident population of approximately 842, 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 Kooyong from the Melbourne CBD?
Kooyong sits 7 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Melbourne employment nodes.
What is the median rent in Kooyong?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $590 in Kooyong, equating to approximately $30,680/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 Kooyong?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Kooyong is $3,425, or approximately $41,100/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 Kooyong cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $590 works out to $2,557/month, covering 75% of the median mortgage repayment of $3,425/month. That leaves a $868/month shortfall (around $10,416/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 Kooyong?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (842 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $3,425 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (37% 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 Kooyong 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.