Barwon South West Vic vs Western Australia: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Western Australia edges ahead of Barwon South West Vic on higher occupancy (21.4% vs 13.2%), stronger RevPAR (£39 vs £26).

Head-to-head metrics

	Barwon South West Vic	Western Australia
Median occupancy	13.2%	21.4%
Median daily rate	£194	£176
Median RevPAR	£26	£39
Active listings	5,106	11,558
YoY occupancy	+0 pts	-1.6 pts
YoY daily rate	+38.7%	+40.2%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Barwon South West Vic vs Western Australia

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Western Australia finishes clearly ahead of Barwon South West Vic. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 46.2% higher in Western Australia: £39 against £26. Western Australia's listings run at 21.4% occupancy against 13.2% in Barwon South West Vic, worth 8.2 extra points of booked calendar every year. Those gaps are wide enough to survive a normal year's variance.

The two markets reach their revenue by different routes, which is what makes this pairing worth reading rather than just tabulating. Barwon South West Vic is the rate market: £194 a night against £176, some 10.1% more, but it converts fewer of those nights at 13.2% occupancy. Western Australia is the volume market, filling 21.4% of its calendar at a lower headline price. Revenue per available night settles it: £39 in Western Australia against £26. Rate is what you advertise; RevPAR is what you bank.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Barwon South West Vic is not simply the weaker market of the two. Nightly rates favour Barwon South West Vic: £194 against £176 in Western Australia, a 10.1% premium. Barwon South West Vic is the less crowded of the two — 5,106 active listings to 11,558 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. If your model leans on nightly rate rather than volume, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Barwon South West Vic nor Western Australia currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Barwon South West Vic peaks in September at 59.8% and bottoms in November at 38.2%; Western Australia runs from 55.8% in September down to 32.4% in February. Both swing by a similar amount across the year, so neither offers meaningfully steadier cash flow than the other.

Who each suits, then. Barwon South West Vic suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. Western Australia answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 5,106 active Barwon South West Vic listings and 11,558 in Western Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Barwon South West Vic or Western Australia better for Airbnb investment?

Western Australia, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£39 vs £26), higher occupancy (21.4% vs 13.2%), and higher median annual revenue (£14,076 vs £9,624). Barwon South West Vic is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a higher nightly rate (£194 vs £176).

Which has higher occupancy, Barwon South West Vic or Western Australia?

Western Australia, at 21.4% median occupancy against 13.2% in Barwon South West Vic — a gap of 8.2 points. That is a real but modest edge; a well-run listing in Barwon South West Vic can close most of it. Over the last twelve months Barwon South West Vic was flat and Western Australia shed 1.6 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Barwon South West Vic or Western Australia?

Barwon South West Vic, at £194 a night against £176 in Western Australia — roughly 10.1% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Western Australia comes out ahead at £39 against £26, so Western Australia's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Barwon South West Vic or Western Australia?

Barwon South West Vic, on occupancy: +0 points over the last twelve months against −1.6 points in Western Australia. Nightly rates rose 38.7% in Barwon South West Vic and rose 40.2% in Western Australia over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Barwon South West Vic or Western Australia?

Western Australia, with 11,558 active listings against 5,106 in Barwon South West Vic. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Barwon South West Vic vs Western Australia?

Western Australia earns more: roughly £14,076 a year for a median listing against £9,624 in Barwon South West Vic. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Barwon South West Vic →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Western Australia →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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