Donnybrook, VIC 3064
Whittlesea City, Victoria
Good to Know
Donnybrook, VIC 3064 is an affordable house market in the Whittlesea City area, currently positioned as a high-growth momentum submarket. Located north of the Melbourne CBD, Donnybrook is home to roughly 2,100 adults across 7,376 dwellings and currently records a vacancy rate of 6.91%.
According to HtAG Analytics, Donnybrook is exhibiting mixed supply and demand behaviour. Stock on Market sits at 0.70% and Inventory at 4.4 months — above the ~3-month balanced-market threshold and signalling softer turnover — driving +12.1% 1-year price growth and -2.9% 1-year rent growth.
What the market data is signalling
Donnybrook's combination of strong short-term capital gains (+12.1% 1-year price growth) and falling rents (-2.9%) alongside an elevated vacancy rate (6.91%) suggests buyer-driven price momentum that is not yet matched by rental demand. Neutral supply signals — Stock on Market 0.70% and Inventory 4.4 months — plus a neutral Building Approvals Ratio 1.18% mean the market could stay imbalanced between sales and lettings unless vacancy tightens. See the Markets in the Moment (MiM™) heatmap for a visual view of where Donnybrook sits in the current cycle.
Who lives in Donnybrook — and why it matters for investors
Donnybrook records a high socio-economic index (IRSAD decile 9), indicating relative affluence and household stability, while the renter/owner ratio of 21% sits in the neutral band. That profile typically reduces volatility in owner-occupier demand but, combined with the suburb's very low units/houses mix (2%), can compress rental stock options and create rental market sensitivity if demand weakens. Review the IRSAD Crossover study to understand how socio-economic composition links to long-cycle growth.
Why suburb-level data matters for Donnybrook
Suburb-level metrics reveal the real trading dynamics investors face. Donnybrook's typical house price of $686,142, indicative gross yield of 3.52%, Stock on Market 0.70%, Inventory 4.4 months and median 44 days on market together show a market with strong sales momentum but soft rental performance and elevated vacancies — signals that can be lost if only council averages are considered. Read more in our LGA vs Suburb research.
For the full dataset and downloadable metrics, access the full Donnybrook data guide.
What's behind the RCS™ score of 65
HtAG's RCS™ (Rating Composite Score) of 65 bundles three independent dimensions — risk minimisation, capital-growth potential and cashflow resilience — into one composite. A mid-high score like this reflects solid capital-growth signals offset by cashflow and vacancy headwinds; drilling into the sub-scores helps match Donnybrook to either a growth or a hybrid strategy. Learn more about how the RCS™ is built.
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Forward signals to watch
The vacancy rate — currently 6.91%: sustained high vacancy over 12–24 months will continue to pressure rents, reduce effective gross yields and favour buyer negotiation on price or incentives.
The building approvals ratio — currently 1.18%: this neutral approvals reading suggests moderate new supply risk; a sustained rise above the neutral band would increase rental stock and could prolong soft rents and higher vacancies.
The Melbourne cycle phase: a city-wide shift from growth to contraction would likely dampen Donnybrook's sales momentum and make vacancy and rent compression the dominant local story; conversely, renewed metro expansion would support ongoing price growth.
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RCS Breakdown
Donnybrook'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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Market Trends
Donnybrook's headline values — $686K to buy and $465PW to rent, a 3.52% gross yield. Over the past decade, prices have moved 194.90% and rents 24.00% — the Yield series shows whether that gap is widening (price outpacing rent, yield compressing) or closing.
$686K 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.
$465PW today, with rent growth at (-2.92% YoY) compared to price growth (+12.1%). That spread determines yield is expanding or compressing across the next cycle. Sign up to unlock the entire trend line.
Where is Donnybrook in its cycle - and is the 3.52% 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 Donnybrook's long-hold story?
Beyond the headline price, Donnybrook 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
Donnybrook'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
Donnybrook 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 Donnybrook 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 Donnybrook 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 Donnybrook - 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
Donnybrook 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 Donnybrook'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 Donnybrook 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
Donnybrook 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 Donnybrook 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 Donnybrook 3064 VIC is 1,574, with a median age of 30. Of those, 59.02% are married, 6.10% are divorced or separated, 33.67% are single and 1.33% are widowed.
The average household size is 3.0 people per dwelling, and the median household monthly income is estimated to be $8,948. The median monthly mortgage repayment for households in this suburb is $2,100 which is 23.47% of their earnings.
Source: ABS Census Data (2021)