Carlton North - Princes Hill Tops Inner Melbourne Yields at 3.6%

Yields across 14 Inner Melbourne suburbs range from 3.6% in Carlton North - Princes Hill down to under 2% in the most expensive inner pockets. That spread is wider than the gap between the city-median long-term yield (2.8%) and the national median (4.0%), which means where you buy inside the inner ring shapes returns more decisively than the city-wide average suggests. This ranking sets out which suburbs lead on gross yield, which carry premium pricing without the income to match, and why the pattern exists.

Carlton North - Princes Hill Leads Inner Melbourne on Long-Term Yield

The top of the ranking is dominated by inner-north and inner-west suburbs that combine genuine rental demand with sale prices below the city median of $1,700,318. The five highest-yielding suburbs are set out below, ranked by long-term gross yield with the short-term rental yield shown alongside for direct comparison.

Gross yields = annual income / sale price. Based on 3-bed house medians. The dashboard shows every property type and bedroom count.

What Drives the Top Three Suburbs

Carlton North - Princes Hill leads because it pairs steady tenant demand with an entry price ($1,362,418) that is roughly 20% below the Inner Melbourne median. The suburb sits next to the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital precinct, so the rental pool draws from students, postdocs, and clinical staff who value walkability and tram access. A 3-bed house there typically rents for $937 per week, which translates into 3.6% gross. Long-term tenant turnover is moderate, and short-term rental demand is solid but not premium-priced; the suburb is more of an investment-property play than a holiday rental one.

North Melbourne, ranked second at 3.5%, benefits from a different driver: gentrification combined with major transport infrastructure. Flemington Road, the North Melbourne train station, and the Metro Tunnel works are all within reach, and the suburb has progressively repositioned from industrial fringe to inner-ring residential without (yet) attracting the price tag of Carlton or East Melbourne. Kensington (Vic.) rounds out the top three at 3.4%, and is the most affordable inner-Melbourne suburb in the ranking at $1,191,052. Its inner-west location, family-friendly streets, and proximity to the Flemington racecourse give it a distinct demand base that holds rent up even as sale prices stay below the city median.

The short-term rental column tells a slightly different story. Tourist-adjacent suburbs like Carlton and the Southbank pockets tend to lift on short-term yield because nightly rates are stronger near the CBD and event venues, but their higher sale prices push them down the long-term ranking. The dashboard splits the two yield columns out for every suburb so you can see which suburbs hold their position on both metrics and which only work for one strategy.

Yield Falls Sharply as Price Rises

The pattern across Inner Melbourne is the classic inverse relationship between price and yield. Cheaper inner suburbs yield more because rent does not fall as fast as sale price; tenants are willing to pay close to inner-ring rents in any suburb that delivers transport, amenity, and walkability, while buyers price in factors that have nothing to do with rent (heritage, school zones, view lines, capital-growth track record). The result is a yield curve that bends down as you move toward the most expensive postcodes.

An investor entering at $1,362,418 in Carlton North - Princes Hill faces a very different capital-risk profile to one buying at the city median of $1,700,318, let alone at the top of the price range ($3,043,759). The lower-priced entry point also reduces the absolute dollar exposure to a market downturn, which matters in a city where Inner Melbourne valuations are sensitive to macro factors like interest rate cycles and overseas student flows.

Premium Suburbs Trade Yield for Liquidity and Growth

For context, here is how some of Inner Melbourne's most in-demand suburbs compare. These are established, tightly-held locations where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for stronger long-run capital growth, deeper liquidity, and tenant quality.

High-demand suburbs for context. Same methodology as the yield ranking above.

These suburbs yield less on long-term rent because buyers pay a premium for location scarcity, heritage stock, and growth track record rather than current income. Short-term rental can lift the picture in the most tourist-exposed pockets such as Southbank (West) - South Wharf and Southbank - East, where short-term yields run above 6.5% and proximity to the CBD, sporting precincts, and the Royal Botanic Gardens supports occupancy. But that uplift does not change the fundamental thesis: premium Inner Melbourne is bought for the long-run capital story, not the monthly rent cheque.

What the Ranking Does Not Show

A high gross yield can reflect depressed sale prices rather than strong rents, so a top-of-list suburb is not automatically a top-of-list investment. The ranking is also silent on capital growth, which historically has favored the premium Inner Melbourne suburbs over long holding periods (income plus appreciation often beats higher-yield suburbs once you compound returns over 10-plus years). Vacancy risk varies by suburb too: some inner-north pockets have thinner rental pools and are more sensitive to student-flow shifts, while gentrifying suburbs can see longer void periods between tenants.

Data lag is the other caveat. Medians here are rolling figures, and Inner Melbourne suburbs can move quickly when sentiment shifts, so the numbers describe the recent past rather than next quarter's market. Treat the ranking as a starting filter, not a final answer.

View Inner Melbourne in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type

Negative Gearing Tilts the After-Tax Math Toward Long-Term Rentals

Australia's negative gearing rules change the after-tax picture for many Inner Melbourne investors, and the effect is larger here than in most cities because sale prices are high and gross yields are low. When a long-term rental property runs at a cash-flow loss in the early years, where mortgage interest and operating costs exceed rent, that loss can be offset against the investor's salary income, reducing taxable income. Inner Melbourne yields (2.8% at the city median) are well below typical mortgage rates, so most leveraged investors here will be running at a paper loss in the first several years.

The benefit scales with the marginal tax rate. At the 45% top bracket (income above $190k), each $1 of rental loss saves $0.45 in tax. At the 30% middle bracket ($45k-$135k), it saves $0.30. So a $10,000 paper loss saves $4,500 for a high-income investor and $3,000 for a middle-bracket one. For high earners holding Inner Melbourne stock, this offset can be the difference between a property that is mildly cash-negative and one that is genuinely after-tax positive.

Depreciation amplifies the effect. The building depreciation allowance lets investors deduct 2.5% of the building's construction cost per year for buildings under 40 years old, and fixtures and fittings (carpets, appliances, air conditioning) depreciate separately on top. These are non-cash deductions, so they create additional tax-deductible losses without reducing actual cash flow. For an Inner Melbourne 3-bed house at the median price of $1,700,318, the depreciable building value is roughly $1,360,254 (80% building allocation), producing about $34,006 per year in deduction.

Short-term rental properties that are profitable do not benefit from negative gearing because there is no loss to offset. So the after-tax comparison can flip the pre-tax ranking: a long-term rental running at a small cash-flow loss can outperform a short-term rental running at a small profit once the investor's tax bracket is applied. The dashboard calculates your after-tax position including negative gearing and depreciation based on your income; enter your salary to see how the tax treatment changes the short-term versus long-term comparison for your bracket.

Inner Melbourne Yields Sit Below Both State and National Medians

The city-median yield of 2.8% sits below the Victoria median of 3.8% and well below the national median of 4.0%. Even the top-yielding suburb in this ranking, Carlton North - Princes Hill at 3.6%, falls short of the state average. That is the central characteristic of premium urban markets: yields trade down as buyers price in growth, scarcity, and amenity. The investor case for Inner Melbourne is appreciation-led, not income-led, and the suburb-level rankings should be read with that frame in mind. Investors chasing pure yield will find better numbers in regional Victoria or interstate markets, while those buying Inner Melbourne are typically pairing it with a long-hold thesis and using negative gearing and depreciation to manage the cash-flow gap.

On the regulatory side, Melbourne permits short-term rentals with minimal regulatory restrictions. Details: Currently no day limits or planning permit requirements. Proposed policy (on hold): $350 annual registration + 180 day cap. State government levy commenced Jan 1, 2025. Local caps shelved pending state policy. View official regulations The proposed 180-night cap and $350 annual registration are on hold, and the state government short-term rental levy commenced in January 2025. Investors should verify current rules with their solicitor and the City of Melbourne before committing to a short-term rental strategy, since this is an active legislative area.

For a sense of how listing platforms align with the rankings here, you can cross-check median sale prices and rents against current listings on Domain and realestate.com.au at the suburb level. Methodology details, including how weekly rents and short-term yields are derived, are set out in our data sources and market score methodology notes.

Data reflects market conditions as of May 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.