Suburb Overview
Waterways is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 2,422, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 27 km from the Melbourne CBD, Waterways is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $156,676 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3195
Postcode for Waterways, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
2,422
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$623/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
$156,676
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
27 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,500/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
84% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Waterways is a smaller community of 2,422 — about 33% 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 $156,676/year runs 65% 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 $623 equated to $2,700/month — about 108% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $2,500/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 27 km from Melbourne, Waterways is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price.
Waterways vs Victoria Median
How Waterways stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Waterways sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Waterways | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2,422 | 7,416 | -67% |
| Median household income | $156,676/yr | $95,160/yr | +65% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $623 | $380 | +64% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,500 | $1,950 | +28% |
| Distance to CBD | 27 km | 32 km | -16% |
| Separate houses | 84% | 78% | +6pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Waterways — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 2,422 residents — 33% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $156,676/year (+65% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $623/week rent (≈ $2,700/month) covered ~108% of the $2,500/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 27 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 84% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$250/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,500/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 21% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 2,422 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $623/week (~$2,700/month) covered 108% of the $2,500/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 84% houses in a 2,422-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 $2,500/month median mortgage in Waterways means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $250/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Premium-pricing risk: incomes 65% above the Victoria median ($156,676 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 2,422 residents, Waterways 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.
- Waterways is 27 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.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Waterways regardless of local market conditions.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Waterways are modest for 2026 — incomes 65% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 2,422 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~108% of the typical mortgage ($2,700/month rent vs $2,500/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Waterways 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 Waterways a good suburb for investment?
Whether Waterways suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 2,422, a median household income of $156,676/year and median weekly rent of $623. 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 Waterways?
The main demand drivers in Waterways are an above-state-median household income of $156,676/year, a dwelling mix that is 84% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Waterways?
Waterways has a usual resident population of approximately 2,422, 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 Waterways from the Melbourne CBD?
Waterways sits 27 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 Waterways?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $623 in Waterways, equating to approximately $32,396/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 Waterways?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Waterways is $2,500, or approximately $30,000/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 Waterways cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $623 works out to $2,700/month, covering 108% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,500/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $200/month, so on these numbers Waterways 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 Waterways?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (2,422 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,500 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 Waterways 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.