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Suburb Insights · VIC 3198

Seaford, VIC 3198 Property Profile

ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026

Suburb Overview

Seaford is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 17,215, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 36 km from the Melbourne CBD, Seaford is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $78,000 per year.

Investment Score

50 / 100 Moderate

Seaford has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates. Greater distance from the CBD may temper short-term capital growth.

Location

Melbourne
Seaford
Victoria · 3198
36 km from Melbourne CBD
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Key Indicators

Postcode
3198

Official Australia Post postcode for Seaford. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.

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Population
17,215

Usual resident population at the most recent census.

Median weekly rent
$351/wk

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

Median household income
$78,000/yr

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

Distance to CBD
36 km

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

Lifestyle & Amenities

Schools nearby
4

Estimated 4 schools within or near this suburb.

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Parks & green spaces
7

Estimated 7 parks and green spaces near this suburb.

Median monthly mortgage
$1,850/mo

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

Home type
68% houses

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

Why People Like Living in Seaford

Who Seaford Suits

👨‍👩‍👧Families4 schools nearby, 68% separate houses.
📊InvestorsRent covers a solid share of the median mortgage.
🏡First-home buyersEntry costs sit at or below the Victoria median.
💼ProfessionalsLonger commute to the CBD.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
  • Mortgage costs are lower than the Victoria median, improving cash-flow margins.
  • Access to several schools nearby (around 4).
  • Local parks and reserves (around 7) add to liveability.
  • Solid transport links into employment hubs.

Cons

  • Long distance to the CBD (36 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
  • Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.

Investment Insight

With 17,215 residents, Seaford is one of Victoria's more populous suburbs — roughly 2.3× the state median of 7,416 — giving it a deep buyer and tenant pool that typically supports higher transaction volumes and shorter average days on market. Household income of $78,000/year is 18% below the Victoria median of $95,160, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Rent of $351/week (82% coverage of the $1,850/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $329/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 36 km from Melbourne, Seaford is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price.

Investment Tip

Outer-metro suburbs reward careful property selection — aim for homes near infrastructure rather than generic house-and-land packages. Local rents consume roughly 23% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.

Seaford vs Victoria Median

How Seaford stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Seaford sits above the state median; negative means below.

MetricSeafordVIC medianΔ vs state
Population17,2157,416+132%
Median household income$78,000/yr$95,160/yr-18%
Median rent (weekly)$351$380-8%
Median mortgage (monthly)$1,850$1,950-5%
Distance to CBD36 km32 km+13%
Separate houses68%78%-10pp

Investor Checklist

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

Investment Strategy

⚠️
Buy & Hold

Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Seaford's 17,215-person market and $78,000 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

Moderate rental coverage: rent of $351/week covers 82% of a $1,850/month mortgage, leaving a $329/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.

Renovation / Flip

Only 68% 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

Run the numbers on a Seaford property

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30-year projections for Seaford

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2026 Outlook

Growth: Low Rental Demand: Moderate Investor Sentiment: Moderate

Capital-growth expectations for Seaford are modest for 2026 — incomes 18% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~82% of the typical mortgage ($1,521/month rent vs $1,850/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 50/100 places Seaford in the mid 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 Seaford a good suburb for investment?

Seaford scores 50/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 17,215, median household income of $78,000/year and median weekly rent of $351. 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 Seaford?

The main demand drivers in Seaford are a median household income of $78,000/year, a dwelling mix that is 68% separate houses, roughly 4 schools and 7 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 Seaford?

Seaford has a usual resident population of approximately 17,215, compared with a Victoria suburb median of 7,416 — placing it in the upper 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 Seaford from the Melbourne CBD?

Seaford sits 36 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 Seaford?

The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $351 in Seaford, equating to approximately $18,252/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 Seaford?

The median monthly mortgage repayment in Seaford is $1,850, or approximately $22,200/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 Seaford cash-flow positive for investors?

A median weekly rent of $351 works out to $1,521/month, covering 82% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,850/month. That leaves a $329/month shortfall (around $3,948/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 Seaford?

The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,850 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($78,000 vs $95,160 state median), 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 Seaford 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.

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