Melbourne vs Sunshine Coast: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Melbourne and Sunshine Coast score similarly on the metrics that matter most for short-term rental returns. The right pick depends on whether you optimise for yield (lower regulation risk, higher RevPAR) or capital growth.

Head-to-head metrics

	Melbourne	Sunshine Coast
Median occupancy	30%	30%
Median daily rate	£80	£166
Median RevPAR	£15	£29
Active listings	15,424	5,416
YoY occupancy	+8.6 pts	+11.9 pts
YoY daily rate	+1.3%	+8.5%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Melbourne vs Sunshine Coast

There is no clean winner between Melbourne and Sunshine Coast. Melbourne posts 30% occupancy and £15 RevPAR; Sunshine Coast posts 30% occupancy and £29 RevPAR. Weighted together with regulation risk the two finish inside the margin we are willing to call, which is the honest answer rather than an evasive one — a scoring gap this small would flip on the next data refresh. When markets are this close the decision stops being about the market and starts being about the deal: what you pay, what it costs to run, and how quickly you could exit.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Melbourne runs 30% occupancy at £80 a night; Sunshine Coast runs 30% at £166. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £29 against £15 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

A tie does not mean the two are interchangeable — it means each holds something the other does not. Melbourne is the deeper market at 15,424 active listings against 5,416, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. Across a full year the median Sunshine Coast listing grosses £10,704 against £5,386 in Melbourne. Pick the one whose advantage matches how you intend to operate, because the composite score will not do that job for you.

Neither Melbourne nor Sunshine Coast 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. Melbourne peaks in July at 66.7% and bottoms in October at 47.1%; Sunshine Coast runs from 62.1% in October down to 35% in March. Melbourne is the steadier of the two at 19.6 points peak-to-trough against 27.1 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Sunshine Coast concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Melbourne suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry and whose economics survive high turnover — more bookings, more cleans, more guest contact per pound of revenue. Sunshine Coast answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal: it is the market for an owner who can hold rate through the shoulder season rather than discounting to fill the calendar. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 9,898 active Melbourne listings and 3,542 in Sunshine Coast.

Frequently asked questions

Is Melbourne or Sunshine Coast better for Airbnb investment?

Neither pulls clearly ahead. Melbourne runs 30% occupancy and £80 a night; Sunshine Coast runs 30% occupancy and £166 a night. Once occupancy, revenue per available night and regulation risk are weighted together the two finish within a couple of points of each other, so the decision turns on purchase price, how far you are willing to travel, and which rulebook you would rather work under.

Which has higher occupancy, Melbourne or Sunshine Coast?

Effectively neither — they are level. Melbourne sits at 30% and Sunshine Coast at 30%, a 0-point difference that is inside the noise of a median drawn from a listings snapshot. Over the last twelve months Melbourne gained 8.6 points and Sunshine Coast gained 11.9 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Melbourne or Sunshine Coast?

Sunshine Coast, at £166 a night against £80 in Melbourne — roughly 107.3% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £29 in Sunshine Coast against £15, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Melbourne or Sunshine Coast?

Sunshine Coast, on occupancy: +11.9 points over the last twelve months against +8.6 points in Melbourne. Nightly rates rose 1.3% in Melbourne and rose 8.5% in Sunshine Coast 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, Melbourne or Sunshine Coast?

Melbourne, with 15,424 active listings against 5,416 in Sunshine Coast. 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 Melbourne vs Sunshine Coast?

Sunshine Coast earns more: roughly £10,704 a year for a median listing against £5,386 in Melbourne. 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 Melbourne →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Sunshine Coast →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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