01Glossary · 20 terms

Every term on a report, defined.

What each metric measures and how PropNinja reads it. Written for buyers, not analysts.

A

Auction clearance rate: The percentage of properties that sell at auction rather than being passed in. A rate above 70% generally indicates strong buyer demand. PropNinja uses rolling 12-week clearance rates compared with metro and state averages.

Capital growth: The increase in a property's value over time, expressed as a percentage. Capital growth is driven by supply and demand, infrastructure development, population growth and economic conditions.

Days on market (DOM): The median number of days a property is listed before it sells. Falling DOM signals rising demand and a seller's market. PropNinja tracks DOM against the suburb's own history over 3, 6 and 12 months.
Demand-supply ratio: The ratio of active buyer enquiries to available listings in a suburb. A high ratio means more buyers than properties, which typically precedes price growth. Adjusted for seasonal patterns.

Gross rental yield: Annual rental income divided by the property's purchase price, expressed as a percentage. A property renting for $500 a week ($26,000 a year) bought for $650,000 has a gross yield of 4.0%.
Growth score: PropNinja's 0-100 measure of how strong the evidence for near-term price growth is. It combines nine weighted metrics, including sales momentum, listing scarcity, rental demand, days on market and infrastructure investment, each benchmarked against every suburb nationally. Higher is stronger.

Infrastructure spend: Government and private investment in transport, education, health and community facilities within a suburb's catchment. Committed infrastructure is one of the stronger predictors of future price growth.

Local government area (LGA): An administrative division managed by a local council. Each suburb falls within an LGA, which controls planning decisions, development approvals and local infrastructure.

Median price: The middle price of all property sales in a suburb over a given period. Half the properties sold for more, half for less. More reliable than the average because it is less affected by outlier sales.
Mortgage stress: When a household spends more than 30% of gross income on mortgage repayments. High mortgage stress in a suburb can indicate vulnerability to interest rate rises and forced sales.

Negative gearing: When the costs of owning a rental property (mortgage interest, maintenance, depreciation) exceed the rental income. In Australia the loss can be offset against other taxable income.
Net migration: The difference between people moving into and out of an area. Positive net migration drives housing demand and is an input to PropNinja's population growth metric.

Owner-occupier ratio: The percentage of properties in a suburb occupied by their owners rather than renters. Higher owner-occupier rates tend to correlate with greater stability and less price volatility.

Population growth: The rate of increase in a suburb's population, driven by births, deaths and net migration. Sustained population growth creates long-term housing demand and supports values.
Postcode: A four-digit code used by Australia Post to identify geographic areas. A single postcode may contain several suburbs. PropNinja scores at the suburb level for more precise analysis.
Price momentum: The trend and acceleration of median price changes over 3, 6 and 12-month periods. Accelerating momentum is weighted more heavily than steady growth in the sales momentum metric.

Rental yield compression: When rental yields fall because prices are rising faster than rents. It signals investor confidence in capital growth, and is read alongside rental demand rather than on its own.
Risk score: PropNinja's 0-100 measure of how exposed a suburb is to downside. Factors include oversupply, single-industry employment, price volatility, vacancy rates, mortgage stress and flood and fire zones. Lower is safer.

Stability score: PropNinja's 0-100 measure of how consistently a suburb has performed over ten years: smaller drawdowns, steadier rents, less churn and a firmer demand floor. Higher is steadier.

Vacancy rate: The percentage of rental properties in a suburb that are currently unoccupied. Rates below 2% indicate a tight rental market. Rates above 3% may signal weakening demand.

Open a real suburb report and read every metric against its definition.