1. Define the market
A suburb is not always one market. Separate houses, townhouses and apartments, and consider price bands and school catchments where relevant.
2. Check demand
Population, household growth, employment access, incomes, transport and amenity help explain who wants to live there and why.
3. Check supply
Look at approvals, development sites, vacant land and the pipeline of directly competing dwellings.
4. Review rents and vacancy
Compare asking rents with actual leasing evidence where available and test how much stock is available for tenants to choose from.
5. Check prices and liquidity
Recent comparable sales, sales volume, days on market and vendor discounting help show buyer depth and negotiating conditions.
6. Visit or inspect carefully
Street-by-street differences can matter. Noise, topography, flooding, flight paths, industrial uses and transport access are difficult to understand from a median-price chart.