Mount Gambier, SA 5290
City Of Mount Gambier, South Australia
Good to Know
Mount Gambier, SA 5290 is a supply-constrained house market in the Mount Gambier area, currently positioned as a growth-oriented regional submarket. Home to roughly 25,591 adults across 14,784 dwellings, the market is trading with a 1.08% vacancy rate.
According to HtAG Analytics, Mount Gambier is exhibiting tightening supply and above-average capital momentum. Stock on Market sits at 0.24% and Inventory at 1.18 months — well below the ~3-month balanced-market threshold — driving +11.3% YoY price growth and +4.8% YoY rent growth.
What the market data is signalling
Mount Gambier shows stronger capital appreciation than rental movement: prices are up 11.3% over 12 months while rents have lifted 4.8%. Combined with a healthy gross yield of 4.22% and an opportune Stock on Market of 0.24%, the profile is consistent with a supply-constrained growth market rather than one driven by rental compression. For a visual of how this fits into national momentum see the Markets in the Moment (MiM™) heatmap.
Who lives in Mount Gambier — and why it matters for investors
Mount Gambier's IRSAD of 902 sits below the minimum-recommended crossover level, indicating relatively lower socioeconomic advantage. That can mean greater sensitivity to local employment or commodity cycles, and potentially more price volatility than higher-IRSAD suburbs. The renter/owner split of 33.0% and units/houses mix of 14.0% are both in neutral bands — this supports a broad tenant base but not an oversized investor or unit-market concentration. See our IRSAD Crossover study for how socioeconomic bands affect long-run growth.
Why suburb-level data matters for Mount Gambier
Council and regional averages can conceal pockets like Mount Gambier; investment selection should rest on the suburb's own metrics. Mount Gambier's typical house price of $569,270, gross yield of 4.22%, Stock on Market 0.24%, Inventory 1.18 months and median days on market of 36 days tell a clear local story about tight supply and transactional depth. Read more on the differences between scales in our LGA vs Suburb research.
Download the full Mount Gambier SA 5290 data guide for the complete set of suburb metrics and charts.
What's behind the RCS™ score of 88
The HtAG RCS™ score of 88 bundles three independent dimensions — risk minimisation, capital-growth potential and cashflow resilience — into a single composite to help match markets to strategy. Inspecting the underlying sub-scores is essential: high overall RCS can come from different mixes of growth and safety, so check the breakdown against your hold period and cashflow needs. Learn how the RCS™ is built, then open Mount Gambier in HtAG Copilot to inspect sub-scores and scenario tests.
Forward signals to watch
The vacancy rate — currently 1.08%: this sits in the balanced band; a sustained fall below 1% would push stronger tenant pressure and faster rent growth over 12–24 months, while an increase above 3.5% would weaken leasing leverage.
The building approvals ratio — currently 0.41%: this neutral reading suggests only modest new-supply pressure is in the pipeline; a sustained rise would increase future inventory and cap price upside.
The Adelaide cycle phase: watch state-capital momentum — city-wide shifts in the Adelaide cycle can amplify or dampen Mount Gambier's local momentum, changing investor confidence and price direction over 6–24 months.
Does this area meet your investment goals?
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RCS Breakdown
Mount Gambier's RCS™ headline is an overall signal — but it doesn't tell you why. The three sub-scores below reveal whether that score is earned through risk minimisation, capital growth, or cashflow — and which portfolio brief it fits.
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Critical to know
Market Trends
Mount Gambier's headline values — $569K to buy and $461PW to rent, a 4.21% gross yield. Over the past decade, prices have moved 129.12% and rents 73.03% — the Yield series shows whether that gap is widening (price outpacing rent, yield compressing) or closing.
$569K is today. The 10-year trajectory reveals whether that's the top of a run, the start of a new leg, or somewhere mid-cycle. Sign up to unlock the entire trend line.
$461PW today, with rent growth at (+4.76% YoY) compared to price growth (+11.3%). That spread determines yield is expanding or compressing across the next cycle. Sign up to unlock the entire trend line.
Where is Mount Gambier in its cycle - and is the 4.21% yield holding?
Cycle phase tells you whether you're buying near the bottom (room to run) or top (compression ahead). Yield trajectory tells you whether cashflow is durable or being eroded — the single most important question for a long-hold thesis.
Cycle Phase
Cycle Position
Yield Trajectory
Rent vs Price Spread
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Area Risks
Property data alone won't flag the structural risks that can erode a long-hold position. Bushfire overlays, flood-zone exposure, and economic concentration sit outside the price feed but determine whether your capital is insurable, defensible, and structurally protected. Unlock to see.
Are there hidden structural risks shaping Mount Gambier's long-hold story?
Beyond the headline price, Mount Gambier carries risk signals a median can't show — hazard exposure from bushfire and flood overlays, and how narrowly local employment leans on a handful of sectors (the concentration the EDI score quantifies). Together these separate insurable, defensible long-holds from those carrying tail-risk that never surfaces in the headline number.
MADI Risk
EDI Risk
Bushfire
Flood
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Critical to know
Supply & Demand
Mount Gambier's headline numbers show where the market is today. The two cards below answer where it's heading. Direction is what separates a buy from a wait.
Is housing supply tightening or building up?
Stock on Market is one number — the trend is what matters. SoM, inventory, building approvals and hold period together reveal whether the market is starving for stock (price pressure up) or quietly building a pipeline (pressure down).
Stock on Market
Inventory
Building Approvals
Hold Period
Is buyer and renter demand heating up or cooling off?
Vacancy is one signal — the real question is whether demand is still building or quietly peaking. Days on market, vacancy, search index and clearance rate are the four pulse-points — when they diverge, they signal a turning point.
Days on Market
Vacancy Rate
Search Index
Clearance Rate
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Fundamentals
Mount Gambier can look solid on the surface — but the three layers below separate markets that genuinely hold value from ones that only look like they do.
Is Mount Gambier genuinely stable - or just expensive?
IRSAD hints at affluence, but socio-economic strength alone doesn't guarantee resilience. Combined with the renter-to-owner balance and unit-to-house ratio, you get the three signals that separate a tightly-held submarket from one carrying hidden volatility.
IRSAD
Renter to Owner
Units to Houses
Where do Mount Gambier prices go over the next 12 months?
Today's headline price is just a snapshot. Projected ROI and the volatility index tell you whether to commit capital now, wait for a softer entry, or rotate into a steadie submarket.
Projected Annual ROI
Volatility Index
Can you actually buy into Mount Gambier - and exit cleanly?
Tightly-held areas reward long-hold investors but punish anyone who needs liquidity. Annual sales and rental volume reveal whether your capital can reposition — or sits structurally locked in.
Annual Sales Volume
Annual Rental Volume
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Important to know
Education & Infrastructure
Mount Gambier looks tightly-held and stable on the surface — but the three layers below separate areas that genuinely hold value from ones that only look like they do.
Does Mount Gambier's school catchment + infrastructure pipeline justify the price?
School ranks anchor family demand and tenant quality. The active infrastructure pipeline shifts a suburb's price ceiling over the next 5–10 years. Together they tell you whether Mount Gambier has structural support for the next leg of capital growth.
School Rank
Hospitals & Employment
Infrastructure Spend
Transport Projects
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Full HtAG Intelligence
Mount Gambier shows potential. The platform tells you whether it's the best fit for your portfolio.
Price and yield are only the surface. HtAG reads the forces underneath — supply tightening or loosening, demand heating or cooling, and the risks that move slowly but decide long-term growth. Together they show whether Mount Gambier has the structural support for its next leg — or whether the numbers are running ahead of the fundamentals.
The total adult population (15 years or older) of Mount Gambier 5290 SA is 21,015, with a median age of 41. Of those, 42.42% are married, 14.63% are divorced or separated, 35.77% are single and 7.20% are widowed.
The average household size is 2.2 people per dwelling, and the median household monthly income is estimated to be $6,564. The median monthly mortgage repayment for households in this suburb is $1,083 which is 16.50% of their earnings.
Source: ABS Census Data (2021)
Mount Gambier, SA 5290 seems to be a great area to invest in if you are looking for a property with solid cash flow and capital growth potential.
Even though the gross yield seems to be on the lower side at the moment (4.73%), the disparity in growth between rents and typical values of homes suggests that there is more steam left for growth in the yield domain. This is in line with our projected annual rent increase of 3.34%.
On the other hand, the data shows that the growth in typical values will outpace the growth in rents in the coming years. With a Capital Growth RCS score of 59 and an Overall RCS score of 79, I believe that the projection of 12% annual capital gain is more likely than the lower options. This is also evident when comparing the typical value expressed in thousands to the median rent which are only narrowly separated, $404K to $368W respectively.
Tip: usually narrow difference between these two figures signifies outpacing of capital growth to yield growth.
With a much lower risk score to other areas with a higher gross rental yield, my research indicates that Mount Gambier, SA 5290 would represent a solid addition to a balanced property portfolio or one embracing a cash flow strategy while considering levels of risk.
WHY:
With a Relative Composite Score (RCS) of:
1. 85 / 100 for risk;
2. 95 / 100 for cashflow;
4. 84 / 100 score for overall.
The low-risk component, which is represented by the higher risk score number (85), makes Mount Gambier, SA 5290 an appealing area to invest in and in comparison, to other high yield areas. Given that high yield areas are usually accompanied with a high-risk component, a risk score of 85 and a cash flow score of 95 is a perfect indication of balance between cashflow and risk which is usually very difficult to source.
Other important metrics to consider:
Fundamentals
ISRAD score: 1 — the ISRAD metric highlights the socio-economic standards of the area in question. For Mount Gambier, SA 5290, the score is 1 which represents unfavourable conditions. However, considering that the area has experienced 74% growth in its typical value in the last decade—meaning that the property values have nearly doubled—having an ISRAD score of 1 appears to be an insignificant correlation to price growth.
R|O Ratio: 33% — this relatively balanced score in the renter to owner occupier ratio is suggestible restricted supply of properties for sale. Properties that are rented are usually investment properties which sometimes have a higher probability of sale. Owner occupied properties are on average held for longer which therefore restricts the supply of available properties for sale. This excludes the probability of distressed sales, which are usually a negligible statistic.
This suggests that at times of positive macroeconomic conditions and lower interest rates, demand levels would usually outpace supply levels which is suggestible of an upward pressure on pricing.
U|H Ratio: 10% — this rather opportunistic figure in the unit to house ratio supplements the previous comment that suggests Mount Gambier has a large population of owner occupiers that hold onto their homes for longer which can have a positive effect on price growth due to the imbalance between supply and demand.
The flow on effect is usually exemplified as such:
Higher proportion of houses = higher proportion of owner-occupied properties which = restricted supply of properties which = price growth (should demand and building approvals remain the same)
Supply Metrics
SoM%: 0.14% (18 listings) — this is an opportunistic number and suggests reduced levels of stock are present on the market therefore restricting the supply levels. Not only has there been a substantial reduction in listings from March (23) to April (18) which in percentage terms is nearly a 25% reduction, but the long-term trend of SoM% has been reducing since 2020. If demand remains constant, this primes the area for more price growth.
Inventory: 0.49 — akin to Som%, this figure is also opportunistic. The graph above highlights a slow decline of stock available on market. The downward trend is akin to SoM% downward trend.
Hold Periods: 9.43 years — this is a relatively balanced number which suggests continued downward pressure on the supply of houses when assessed in combination with other supply metrics. Most importantly, the constant rise in the hold period years since 2008 provide a favourable trend and one that is in line with previous statements regarding favourable R|O Ratio and U|H Ratio.
Building Approvals Ratio: 0.46% — this relatively balanced metric which however is on the verge of becoming opportunistic (refer to). This indicates that the introduction of new properties to the market is not exuberant and as such one that would dramatically affect the levels of supply so that it has an inverse effect on price. Assessing BA in conjunction with SoM% and Inventory levels suggest a market with restricted supply of properties. Restricted supply = price growth if demand is stable or increasing.
Demand Metrics
DoM: 34 — this is an opportunistic figure and one that indicates an increasing demand. Most importantly, the DoM trend has seen a dramatic reduction since 2020. This means that Mount Gambier is an area with reducing supply and increasing demand—a perfect combination for price growth. This is why the ISRAD score of 1 should not play too much of a role in deciding the investment potential of the area which is also exemplified in the Rick RCS of 85.
Vacancy Rate: 1.07%. This is a balanced figure that if nested with DoM highlights a market that has an upward pressure on demand. Renting out an investment property should not be a problem in Mount Gambier. More importantly, when forecasting for vacancy and associated costs, investors would be ok by allowing for 2 weeks of vacancy per year.
Buy Search Index: 4—relatively balanced. This suggest that things are as per usually with respect to search interest which when assessed in combination with other metrics is favourable.
Overall, in my view, this makes Mount Gambier a hidden gem. We have a low-risk environment combined with restricted supply metrics and increasing demand metrics. This suggests that the area is poised for both yield and capital growth upward pressure.
Great area to invest in 2023 for those looking to spend sub 500k typical price for property and implementing a cashflow strategy.
For a cheat sheet which highlights what are unfavourable, balanced and opportunistic statistics, refer to our Data Dictionary. Click here if you would like to compare Mount Gambier to another suburb in the LGA.