Suburb Overview
Waurn Ponds is a coastal suburb in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,956, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 74 km from the Melbourne CBD, Waurn Ponds is a coastal area in Victoria. The median household income is $118,872 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3216
Postcode for Waurn Ponds, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
4,956
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$430/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
$118,872
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
74 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,755/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
93% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Waurn Ponds is a smaller community of 4,956 — about 67% 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 $118,872/year runs 25% 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 $430 equated to $1,863/month — about 106% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $1,755/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. Waurn Ponds is 74 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Separate houses make up 93% of dwellings — 15 percentage points above the Victoria median of 78% — pointing to a family-oriented, land-rich market where value is concentrated in the underlying block.
Waurn Ponds vs Victoria Median
How Waurn Ponds stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Waurn Ponds sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Waurn Ponds | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,956 | 7,416 | -33% |
| Median household income | $118,872/yr | $95,160/yr | +25% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $430 | $380 | +13% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,755 | $1,950 | -10% |
| Distance to CBD | 74 km | 32 km | +131% |
| Separate houses | 93% | 78% | +15pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Waurn Ponds — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 4,956 residents — 67% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $118,872/year (+25% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $430/week rent (≈ $1,863/month) covered ~106% of the $1,755/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 74 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 93% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$176/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,755/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 19% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Waurn Ponds's 4,956-person market and $118,872 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $430/week (~$1,863/month) covered 106% of the $1,755/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 93% houses in a 4,956-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 $1,755/month median mortgage in Waurn Ponds means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $176/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 4,956 residents, Waurn Ponds 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 74 km from the nearest CBD, Waurn Ponds depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- House-dominant stock: 93% 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 Waurn Ponds regardless of local market conditions.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Waurn Ponds are modest for 2026 — incomes 25% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 4,956 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~106% of the typical mortgage ($1,863/month rent vs $1,755/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Waurn Ponds 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 Waurn Ponds a good suburb for investment?
Whether Waurn Ponds suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 4,956, a median household income of $118,872/year and median weekly rent of $430. 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 Waurn Ponds?
The main demand drivers in Waurn Ponds are an above-state-median household income of $118,872/year, a dwelling mix that is 93% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Waurn Ponds?
Waurn Ponds has a usual resident population of approximately 4,956, 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 Waurn Ponds from the Melbourne CBD?
Waurn Ponds sits 74 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 Waurn Ponds?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $430 in Waurn Ponds, equating to approximately $22,360/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 Waurn Ponds?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Waurn Ponds is $1,755, or approximately $21,060/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 Waurn Ponds cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $430 works out to $1,863/month, covering 106% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,755/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $108/month, so on these numbers Waurn Ponds 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 Waurn Ponds?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (4,956 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,755 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 Waurn Ponds 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.