Suburb Overview
Skinners Flat is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 27, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 203 km from the Melbourne CBD, Skinners Flat is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $58,500 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3518
Postcode for Skinners Flat, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
27
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$75/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
$58,500
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
203 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
N/A
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
64% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Skinners Flat is a smaller community of 27 — about 0% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Skinners Flat's median household income of $58,500/year is 39% 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 the median weekly rent was $75 (≈ $3,900/year gross at the time). Market rents have moved substantially since 2021, so benchmark against current listings before running yield numbers. Skinners Flat is 203 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Skinners Flat vs Victoria Median
How Skinners Flat stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Skinners Flat sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Skinners Flat | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 27 | 7,416 | -100% |
| Median household income | $58,500/yr | $95,160/yr | -39% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $75 | $380 | -80% |
| Distance to CBD | 203 km | 32 km | +534% |
| Separate houses | 64% | 78% | -14pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Skinners Flat — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 27 residents — 0% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $58,500/year (-39% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Gross rental income: $75/week (2021 Census), ~$3,900/year.
- CBD access: 203 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 64% separate houses — mixed market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: model your cash flow with rates 1–2 percentage points above current to ensure the investment survives a tightening cycle.
- Tenant rent burden: 7% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 27 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Gross rent of $75/week (~$3,900/year, 2021 Census) sets an indicative yield ceiling. Cross-check against current listings and your purchase price to confirm whether this suburb hits the 4–5% gross yield most Australian investors target.
Only 64% 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 movements are the dominant macro risk for Skinners Flat — model cash flow with a 1–2 percentage-point buffer above current rates to ensure the investment survives a tightening cycle.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Skinners Flat are 39% below the Victoria median ($58,500 vs $95,160), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 27 residents, Skinners Flat 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 203 km from the nearest CBD, Skinners Flat 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 Skinners Flat regardless of local market conditions.
Run the numbers on a Skinners Flat property
Walk the journey to a place like Skinners Flat
Seven guided stops — government schemes compared for your exact numbers, a real budget, suburb shortlisting and every contract deadline tracked. Free, no signup to start.
Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Skinners Flat are modest for 2026 — incomes 39% below the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 27 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rents sit around $75/week (2021 Census), a baseline gross rental income of roughly $3,900/year — refine against current listings before running your numbers. Overall investor sentiment for Skinners Flat is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
Share your experience of Skinners Flat
Lived in Skinners Flat? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Skinners Flat a good suburb for investment?
Whether Skinners Flat suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 27, a median household income of $58,500/year and median weekly rent of $75. 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 Skinners Flat?
The main demand drivers in Skinners Flat are a median household income of $58,500/year, a dwelling mix that is 64% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Skinners Flat?
Skinners Flat has a usual resident population of approximately 27, 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 Skinners Flat from the Melbourne CBD?
Skinners Flat sits 203 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 Skinners Flat?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $75 in Skinners Flat, equating to approximately $3,900/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 Skinners Flat?
A reliable median mortgage figure was not captured for Skinners Flat. Use our loan serviceability calculator to estimate a realistic monthly repayment for your target purchase price and deposit.
Is Skinners Flat cash-flow positive for investors?
Census data was not complete enough in Skinners Flat to compute a clean rent-to-mortgage coverage. Use current listings to benchmark weekly rent, then plug your expected purchase price into our rental yield calculator to see whether the investment runs cash-flow positive or negative.
What are the main risks of investing in Skinners Flat?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (27 residents), interest-rate sensitivity, below-median household incomes ($58,500 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 Skinners Flat 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.