Highgate, Perth Inner-City Professional Hub

It depends on your strategy. For cash flow, units clearly win—a $530k median unit with ~$650/week rent delivers around 6.26% gross yield. For long-term capital and land value, houses win—but you’ll accept lower yield (~3.88%) and more volatile median price data due to small sample sizes. Many investors start with a Highgate unit as a yield/base, then roll equity into a house or townhouse later.

You’ll see one source quoting ~$1.08m with +12.91% annual growth and another quoting ~$1.332m with -1.7% growth. That’s not “market chaos”—it’s statistics struggling with low volumes and mixed housing stock. With only 14–25 sales a year and a wide range of house types, the entry or sale of a few premium properties can swing medians dramatically. The real signal to watch is Days on Market (~13 days) and buyer depth at opens, not a single median line on a chart.

Yes, Highgate is primarily a rental suburb—about 56% of dwellings are rented. But that’s exactly what makes it attractive for investors. The renter base is dominated by white-collar professionals with a median weekly household income of $1,852. For owner-occupiers, the higher renter mix is a lifestyle trade-off against CBD access, Hyde Park, and schools. For investors, it’s a structural advantage: deeper tenant pools, lower vacancy and stronger yields.

As a rough guide:

Unit ($530,000): 20% deposit = $106,000 (best to avoid LMI). 10% = $53,000 plus lender’s mortgage insurance. House (~$1,200,000): 20% deposit = $240,000; 10% = $120,000 plus LMI. You’ll also need to budget for WA stamp duty (calculated on a sliding scale) and purchase costs. Use the calculator above for quick estimates, then we can run exact numbers based on your situation.

Highgate’s crime stats (around 46.4 offences per 1,000 people, high rates of stealing and offences against the person) reflect its CBD-fringe position near nightlife and major corridors, not a fundamentally weak community. The population is generally affluent, employed and educated. For buyers and investors, the solution is practical: choose streets with better passive surveillance, invest in security (lighting, alarms, cameras, gates) and be realistic about inner-city living. The financial data—DOM ~12–13 days, strong yields—shows demand remains very robust despite those statistics.

Extremely. Houses and units both sell in roughly 12–13 days, with very limited stock (around 6 listings for sale in a recent month) and a small pool of quality dwellings. On the rental side, only about 16 properties were available in a recent snapshot, against a Perth-wide vacancy rate of ~2.2%—Highgate’s effective vacancy is likely lower. Turn up without pre-approval and you’ll be behind the serious buyers.

Mount Lawley: Higher house medians (~$1.5m+), strong heritage streets and prestige, but lower yields (~2.99%) and a more owner-occupier feel. East Perth: Massive unit market with 647 sales/year, ~6.6–6.69% yields and strong growth, but a heavier high-rise environment. Northbridge: Very central with strong unit yields (~6.74%), but less green space and “neighbourhood” character. Highgate: Sits in the middle—yields close to East Perth/Northbridge, but with Hyde Park, Highgate PS and Mt Lawley SHS catchments giving it superior residential amenity.

Units = Cash flow. With ~6.26% yields and tight vacancy, they are strong candidates for positive or near-neutral gearing, especially if you’re a higher-income borrower. Houses = Capital & land. You’ll likely run more negative in the short term, but get exposure to finite land inside the inner ring, in low-rise-protected pockets, near a premium park and strong schools. Over a 10–20 year horizon, that combination is powerful.

Highgate is in the City of Vincent. Council rates are based on the property’s Gross Rental Value (GRV), with a 2025/26 residential Rate in the Dollar around 0.0817795 and a minimum of $1,516.54. Water Corporation charges include fixed sewerage components that often matter more than usage for budgeting. Add to that inner-city insurance premiums and maintenance for older building stock. We can factor realistic holding costs into your borrowing strategy so you’re not surprised after settlement.