Suburb Overview
South Wharf is an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 71, making it a boutique locality. Located 2 km from the Melbourne CBD, South Wharf is a inner city area in Victoria. The median household income is $149,448 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3006
Postcode for South Wharf, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
71
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$622/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
$149,448
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
2 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,167/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
South Wharf is a smaller community of 71 — about 1% 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 $149,448/year runs 57% 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 $622 equated to $2,695/month — about 124% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $2,167/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. At 2 km from the Melbourne CBD, South Wharf sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks.
South Wharf vs Victoria Median
How South Wharf stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean South Wharf sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | South Wharf | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 71 | 7,416 | -99% |
| Median household income | $149,448/yr | $95,160/yr | +57% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $622 | $380 | +64% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,167 | $1,950 | +11% |
| Distance to CBD | 2 km | 32 km | -94% |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for South Wharf — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 71 residents — 1% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $149,448/year (+57% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $622/week rent (≈ $2,695/month) covered ~124% of the $2,167/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 2 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 ~$217/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,167/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 22% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 57% above the Victoria suburb median ($149,448 vs $95,160), and the 2 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: $622/week (~$2,695/month) covered 124% of the $2,167/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 71, the resale market in South Wharf 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 $2,167/month median mortgage in South Wharf means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $217/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Premium-pricing risk: incomes 57% above the Victoria median ($149,448 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 71 residents, South Wharf 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.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in South Wharf regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in South Wharf 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
South Wharf enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 57% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160 and a population of 71 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 ~124% of the typical mortgage ($2,695/month rent vs $2,167/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for South Wharf 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 South Wharf a good suburb for investment?
Whether South Wharf suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 71, a median household income of $149,448/year and median weekly rent of $622. 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 South Wharf?
The main demand drivers in South Wharf are proximity to Melbourne (2 km), an above-state-median household income of $149,448/year. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of South Wharf?
South Wharf has a usual resident population of approximately 71, 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 South Wharf from the Melbourne CBD?
South Wharf sits 2 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 South Wharf?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $622 in South Wharf, equating to approximately $32,344/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 South Wharf?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in South Wharf is $2,167, or approximately $26,004/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 South Wharf cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $622 works out to $2,695/month, covering 124% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,167/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $528/month, so on these numbers South Wharf 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 South Wharf?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (71 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,167 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 South Wharf 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.