Werribee vs Pacific Paradise vs West Hobart: 72/100

▶ Watch the full video on YouTube: West Hobart vs Pacific Paradise vs Werribee: One Scores 72/100

The comparison between Werribee, Pacific Paradise and West Hobart produces a counterintuitive result: the suburb with the weakest rental figures wins the scorecard. Werribee records 72, ahead of Pacific Paradise on 67 and West Hobart on 44—despite having the highest vacancy and a falling rent.

The reason is that property performance is shaped by two forces: the condition of the individual property and the direction of the broader council area. In this comparison, the broader tide ultimately matters more.

Werribee vs Pacific Paradise vs West Hobart: the scorecard

The three suburbs sit at very different price points and market depths:

• Werribee: $690,000 median house price, 72 score and 766 sales in 12 months
• Pacific Paradise: $1,120,000 median house price, 67 score and 25 sales in 12 months
• West Hobart: $1,115,000 median house price, 44 score and 72 sales in 12 months

Werribee is at least $425,000 cheaper than either rival. Pacific Paradise and West Hobart are only $5,000 apart in median price, but their scores are separated by 23 points.

All three scores fell in the August print, but the rankings changed. That is a reminder that a single suburb statistic is not enough to assess an investment. Market depth, rental conditions, supply and council-level growth all need to be considered together.

West Hobart: a strong property market on a weaker tide

West Hobart has the most polished individual market of the three. Its median house price reached $1,115,000 in August, up 23.9% in 12 months. Houses sell in just eight days, while vacancy sits at 1.5%.

However, the rental numbers have not kept pace with the price growth. Rent is $690 a week, gross yield is 3.22%, and yield has fallen 80 basis points in 12 months. Rent rose 15% over the relevant period but has been flat since the middle of last year, while the median sale price continued to climb.

The council backdrop is also weaker. Hobart recorded five-year population growth of minus 0.62%, with 155 dwellings approved in a year. That creates scarcity, but not necessarily the expanding demand base that supports future growth.

West Hobart’s score fell from 54 in July to 44 in August. The result does not suggest the streets are unwanted. Rather, it shows a high-priced property market where the rent no longer supports the price as comfortably as it once did.

Pacific Paradise: the strongest income case, with a thin sample

Pacific Paradise offers the strongest rental figures on the card. Its median house price is $1,120,000, rent is $875 a week, and gross yield is 4.06%, the highest of the three. Rent growth of 19% was also the fastest in the comparison.

The Sunshine Coast council provides a strong broader backdrop, with five-year population growth of 12.88% and an average suburb score at the 94th percentile across 112 suburbs. The council also recorded 3,371 approvals in a year, meaning strong demand is arriving alongside substantial new supply.

The key issue is market depth. Pacific Paradise recorded only 25 sales in 12 months, so each median is based on a relatively small group of transactions. The suburb’s score fell from 98 in July to 67 in August, while vacancy reached 1.8%, the top of its own band.

For the duplex question raised in the video, the available sales data shows six duplex or semi-detached sales since October 2024. All were two-bedroom properties, with a median price of $731,000, compared with 43 house sales at a median of $960,000. Of 24 houses with a recorded block size, the median block was 546 square metres, and only four reached 600 square metres.

Those figures help establish what a duplex would need to compete with, but they do not verify whether a typical block is eligible for dual occupancy. That remains a planning and site-specific question.

Werribee: the roughest rental boat on the strongest tide

Werribee is the paradox of the comparison. Its vacancy rate is 6.4%, rent is down 5% to $475 a week, gross yield has fallen to 3.58%, and properties take 19 days to sell. Yet it records the highest score at 72.

The explanation is the strength of the Wyndham council layer. Wyndham has 347,830 people, five-year population growth of 21.07%, placing it in the 99th percentile. Employment diversity sits at the 89th percentile, while project spend is at the 97th percentile. The council also approved 4,061 dwellings in a year, equivalent to 53.92 per thousand existing homes.

That construction pipeline helps explain the vacancy rate. The population is growing rapidly, but new dwellings are arriving quickly as well. From a tenant’s perspective, that creates choice and puts pressure on rents. Vacancy rose from 2.5% in October 2024 to 7.2% last November, and now sits at 6.4%.

For an income-focused buyer, these are real weaknesses. But Werribee also has the deepest market by a considerable margin, with 766 sales in 12 months. It is a much more substantial evidence base than Pacific Paradise’s 25 sales, and the lower entry price provides a different investment proposition.

The street-level work still matters. Werribee has a 2.56% public housing share, the highest on the card, so property selection should include a street-by-street screen rather than relying on the suburb median alone.

The Ripehouse Advisory take

The comparison shows why professional property research needs to examine both the individual asset and the wider market behind it.

• For yield, Pacific Paradise leads with 4.06%, supported by the strongest rent growth—but the thin sales sample demands careful street-level selection.
• For owner-occupier appeal, West Hobart has the tightest vacancy and fastest sales, but its 3.22% yield makes it a home-market proposition rather than a strong income asset.
• For a lower entry price and longer-term growth conditions, Werribee offers the strongest council fundamentals, provided buyers understand the current rental oversupply and screen carefully.

The result is not that one suburb suits everyone. It is that the most visible street-level numbers do not always tell the full story. This is why professional research and a buyers agent can help align the suburb, property and strategy.

Download our no-cost Top Five Markets Report 2026 → https://www.ripehouseadvisory.com.au/lp/26/02/2026-boom-locations/access-report?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=youtube&utm_campaign=showdown_threeway&utm_content=showdown-threeway