Calen is in Mackay LGA, QLD, postcode 4798, with population 427.
The page has enough signal to be useful, but the story is mixed rather than decisive. Use compare mode to pressure-test it against stronger nearby options, then use the calculator if it still makes the shortlist.
Entry price sits in the lower-cost range for a first-pass screen.
Gross yield looks low for an income-first use case. Small local population makes the signal set more fragile.
Indicative cashflow is interest-only and excludes tax — use the calculator for a full projection. Turnover divides recorded sales by an estimated household count (population over average household size).
72% of homes here are owner-occupied and 29% rented, with 4% of landlords negatively geared.
72% owner-occupied — owner-occupiers hold longer and absorb rate shocks, supporting price stability.
Gross yield 2.0% is thin — returns here lean on capital growth, not cash flow.
ABS Census 2021 tenure (G37), ATO postcode rental statistics, and QuickProperty's investor-exposure index. Owner-occupied = owned outright + with a mortgage.
New-loan repayment $3,111/mo vs median rent $1,083/mo (+187% · +$468/wk)
At 4.2%: $2,484/mo (-627) · at 6.2% (current): $3,111/mo · at 8.2%: $3,799/mo (+687)
Assumes a 20% deposit and a 30-year principal-and-interest loan at the current RBA new owner-occupier variable rate, against median weekly household income (ABS Census 2021). Stress bands follow the 30% / 45%-of-income thresholds used in ANZ-CoreLogic and AIHW reporting. Rent vs buy compares that repayment with the suburb's median advertised rent; it excludes rates, insurance, maintenance and deposit opportunity cost.
Alternatives are similar-priced suburbs (0.7–1.4x this suburb's median) in other council areas that exceed it on the named metric. Indicative — not financial advice.
This suburb 8.6x · QLD median 9.6x — more affordable than the QLD typical
Nationally · more affordable to buy than 68% of AU suburbs
This suburb 18% · QLD median 19%
Nationally · lighter rent burden than 58% of AU suburbs
Owners with a mortgage repay a median of $1,300/mo, while renters pay about $1,083/mo — owning runs $217/mo higher on these medians.
Serviceability line: a household needs about $2,393/wk to hold a new loan on the median house at 30% of income (20% deposit, 30-year P&I, current RBA rate).
At the median asking rent, about 25% of households here would spend more than 30% of income on rent (rent stress line: $833/wk income).
Getting to work: 88% drive, 2% public transport, 7% walk or cycle, 2% worked from home (2021 Census, taken during COVID-era work-from-home arrangements).
Building due diligence
The National Construction Code is the baseline. Local hazards and site classifications can change the required structure, materials, fixings, insulation and detailing.
About 56.1% of the suburb intersects mapped bushfire-prone land.
May affect: External construction · Roof and wall systems · Openings, screens and decks
Confirm the NCC climate zone used for the building design and energy provisions.
May affect: Insulation and glazing · Condensation control · Roof-space ventilation
A suburb layer cannot determine the site wind classification or Bushfire Attack Level.
May affect: Structure and tie-downs · Cladding and fixings · Openings and bushfire detailing
Confirm marine or corrosive exposure and the applicable termite-management requirements.
May affect: Fasteners and connectors · Roofing and coatings · Termite management
This screen identifies investigation triggers, not building quality or property compliance. Confirm the address, design and current jurisdiction rules with the council, building surveyor or certifier, designer and engineer.
NCC 2022 Housing Provisions: how to use · NCC 2022 Volume Two and Housing Provisions
Estimated exposure to NSW RFS Bush Fire Prone Land (CC BY), point-sampled across the suburb. This shows how much of the suburb sits within the official hazard layer — it is not a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) rating or a property-level assessment. Obtain a BAL assessment (AS 3959) for an individual property.
ABS population projection (2022 base) for the Seaforth - Calen SA2 statistical area — the finest official projection grain available; suburb-level projections do not exist.
Calen (postcode 4798) is a sparsely populated locality in Queensland within the Mackay local government area. With a population of 427, the suburb has an established family demographic with a median age of 43. Households earn a median income of $74K per year, with an average household size of 2.5 people. Recent annual estimates show population movement staying broadly stable across the broader catchment, with population growth running at +0.9% year-on-year at the LGA level. QLD employment has moved +1.5% year-on-year in the official ABS Labour Force trend series, which provides the broader jobs backdrop for this suburb. QLD also had 35 Commonwealth-backed major projects under construction, 16 underway, and 30 in planning as at 2025-09-01, which is useful as a broader delivery backdrop rather than a suburb-specific project count. The most common occupations are machinery operators & drivers, labourers, technicians & trades. Employment in the area leans toward agriculture and education. The top ancestries reported are English, Australian, Aboriginal Australian.
Calen has a median house price of $635,000, holding roughly steady year-on-year. The median weekly rent is $250 (Census 2021). This gives a gross rental yield of approximately 2.0%. The median monthly mortgage repayment is $1,300.
Calen is served by 1 school, including 1 combined. The average ICSEA score is 926, which is below the national average of 1,000. The crime rate in the Mackay LGA is moderate at 6,627 incidents per 100,000 population.
Looking at the investment signals, The gross rental yield works out to roughly 2.0%, which reads as low yield. Property prices sit below the state median ($635K/$1.1M), which can point to relative value. The price-to-income ratio of 8.6x is considered moderate. House prices have moved +0.0% year-on-year. Population growth of +0.9% year-on-year points to stable demand fundamentals. Building approvals have changed +0% year-on-year, indicating steady development activity.
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Calen carries enough direct local evidence for a first-pass decision.
QuickProperty mixes release files, Census baselines, and matched local services on this page. Read the status panel before treating every metric as equally fresh.
QVAS residential dwelling sales aggregated to SA2 and mapped to suburb pages
This gives you directional coverage, but it is weaker than a current rent release.
Schools, transport, and hospitals are useful as presence signals, but they still have different source cadences.
Calen is in the Mackay Local Government Area, QLD, postcode 4798. Council-level context for Mackay LGA (suburb mix, population, rent, and price coverage) is available on the QuickProperty LGA page.
The current median house price in Calen, QLD is $635K, based on the latest available sales data from state Valuers General offices and ABS Data by Region.
The median weekly rent in Calen is $250/wk, based on ABS Census 2021 rent fallback.
QuickProperty's investment signals for Calen show: Low Yield, Below Median, Moderate. These are computed from price, rent, income, and population data — not an opaque score.
Property prices come from state Valuers General offices and ABS Data by Region. Demographics are from ABS Census 2021. School ICSEA scores are from ACARA. Crime statistics are from state police agencies. Transport data is sourced from GTFS feeds.
Property prices update quarterly. RBA macro indicators update with each deploy. Demographics are from Census 2021. School ICSEA scores are from ACARA 2025.