Suburb Overview
Upper Ferntree Gully is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,417, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 32 km from the Melbourne CBD, Upper Ferntree Gully is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $106,028 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3156
Postcode for Upper Ferntree Gully, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
3,417
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$369/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
$106,028
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
32 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,000/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
92% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Upper Ferntree Gully is a smaller community of 3,417 — about 46% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Households here earn $106,028/year on average — 11% above the VIC suburb median of $95,160 — a modest premium that supports resilient owner-occupier demand. At the 2021 Census, rent of $369/week covered 80% of the $2,000/month median mortgage recorded at the same Census, leaving a gap of roughly $401/month at the time. Rents and repayments have both risen since — re-run the numbers with current figures before drawing conclusions. At 32 km from Melbourne, Upper Ferntree Gully is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price.
Upper Ferntree Gully vs Victoria Median
How Upper Ferntree Gully stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Upper Ferntree Gully sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Upper Ferntree Gully | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,417 | 7,416 | -54% |
| Median household income | $106,028/yr | $95,160/yr | +11% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $369 | $380 | -3% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,000 | $1,950 | +3% |
| Distance to CBD | 32 km | 32 km | 0% |
| Separate houses | 92% | 78% | +14pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Upper Ferntree Gully — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 3,417 residents — 46% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $106,028/year (+11% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $369/week rent (≈ $1,599/month) covered ~80% of the $2,000/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 32 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 92% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$200/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,000/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 18% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Upper Ferntree Gully's 3,417-person market and $106,028 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $369/week covered 80% of a $2,000/month mortgage, a $401/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
With 92% houses in a 3,417-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $2,000/month median mortgage in Upper Ferntree Gully means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $200/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 3,417 residents, Upper Ferntree Gully 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.
- Upper Ferntree Gully is 32 km from the CBD — not close enough to benefit from the inner-ring pricing halo, so growth depends more heavily on local infrastructure decisions and the wider Victoria market cycle.
- House-dominant stock: 92% of dwellings are separate houses, so value is concentrated in land — weather events, insurance repricing and land-tax changes hit investors here more directly than in a unit-heavy suburb.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Upper Ferntree Gully regardless of local market conditions.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Upper Ferntree Gully are modest for 2026 — incomes 11% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 3,417 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~80% of the typical mortgage ($1,599/month rent vs $2,000/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Upper Ferntree Gully 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 Upper Ferntree Gully a good suburb for investment?
Whether Upper Ferntree Gully suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 3,417, a median household income of $106,028/year and median weekly rent of $369. 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 Upper Ferntree Gully?
The main demand drivers in Upper Ferntree Gully are an above-state-median household income of $106,028/year, a dwelling mix that is 92% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Upper Ferntree Gully?
Upper Ferntree Gully has a usual resident population of approximately 3,417, 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 Upper Ferntree Gully from the Melbourne CBD?
Upper Ferntree Gully sits 32 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 Upper Ferntree Gully?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $369 in Upper Ferntree Gully, equating to approximately $19,188/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 Upper Ferntree Gully?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Upper Ferntree Gully is $2,000, or approximately $24,000/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 Upper Ferntree Gully cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $369 works out to $1,599/month, covering 80% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,000/month. That leaves a $401/month shortfall (around $4,812/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 Upper Ferntree Gully?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,417 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,000 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 Upper Ferntree Gully 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.