Colonel Light Gardens vs UnleyTwo Adelaide suburbs compared for a home loan
Colonel Light Gardens (SA 5041) is approximately 7 km south of the Adelaide CBD, either side of Goodwood Road. Unley (SA 5061) is approximately 3 km south of the Adelaide CBD, below the Park Lands. At the 2021 Census, Colonel Light Gardens had 3,311 residents with a median age of 42, and Unley had 3,997 residents with a median age of 41.
In both suburbs the most common occupied dwelling was separate houses. Flats and apartments made up 3% of occupied dwellings in Colonel Light Gardens and 27% in Unley, while 12% of Colonel Light Gardens households rented compared with 36% in Unley. These differences matter for finance, because lenders assess apartments, strata buildings and houses on land differently.
Both suburbs are in the same state, so transfer duty is calculated on the same scale and the difference in upfront cost comes from the purchase price. The panel below applies that scale, and an estimate of lenders mortgage insurance, to the prices you enter.
SA 5041 · Adelaide's inner south
Colonel Light Gardens
Colonel Light Gardens is a State Heritage Area of 1920s bungalows in the City of Mitcham, where separate houses make up more than nine in ten homes.
City of Mitcham. Approximately 7 km south of the Adelaide CBD, either side of Goodwood Road.
Read the full Colonel Light Gardens guideSA 5061 · Adelaide's inner south
Unley
Unley is an inner-southern Adelaide suburb below the Park Lands where apartments and townhouses outnumber houses and renting is the largest tenure.
City of Unley. Approximately 3 km south of the Adelaide CBD, below the Park Lands.
Read the full Unley guide
What buying in Colonel Light Gardens and Unley would mean for the loan
The difference between two suburbs is usually a difference in price, and price drives the deposit, the transfer duty, any lenders mortgage insurance and the repayment. Enter the prices you are seeing and the panel works out each of those for Colonel Light Gardens and Unley.
Your prices and deposit
Enter the price you are seeing in each suburb. BorrowWise does not quote prices, so the comparison uses yours.
Enter a price for Colonel Light Gardens to see the repayment, transfer duty and upfront cash.
Enter a price for Unley to see the repayment, transfer duty and upfront cash.
Warning: The interest rate used here is an example only. It is not a comparison rate and is not a rate offered by any lender, and it does not include fees and charges. Different rates, terms, fees or loan amounts will give a different result.
Estimates only. Repayments assume a principal and interest loan at a constant rate, which is an assumption and not a current market rate. Transfer duty is indicative for established homes, first home buyer relief depends on eligibility, and upfront cash includes an allowance of $3,000 for conveyancing and inspections. Lenders mortgage insurance is an estimate and is added to the loan. A lender makes its own assessment.
Colonel Light Gardens and Unley: Census profile compared
Figures are from the 2021 Census, so rents, repayments and incomes have moved since. They are most useful for comparing one suburb with another and with Australia as a whole.
| Measure | Colonel Light Gardens | Unley |
|---|---|---|
| People and households | ||
| Residents | 3,311 | 3,997 |
| Median ageAustralia 38 | 42 | 41 |
| Average household sizeAustralia 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 |
| Median household income, weeklyAustralia $1,746 | $2,491 | $2,037 |
| Housing costs at the 2021 Census | ||
| Median rent, weeklyAustralia $375 | $400 | $372 |
| Median mortgage repayment, monthlyAustralia $1,863 | $2,173 | $2,167 |
| Who owns and who rents | ||
| Households rentingAustralia 31% | 12% | 36% |
| Owned with a mortgageAustralia 35% | 46% | 27% |
| Owned outrightAustralia 31% | 42% | 35% |
| Types of home | ||
| Separate housesAustralia 72% | 91% | 52% |
| Townhouses, terraces and semi-detachedAustralia 13% | 5% | 20% |
| Flats and apartmentsAustralia 14% | 3% | 27% |
| Homes with two bedrooms or fewer | 14% | 38% |
| Homes with four bedrooms or more | 37% | 19% |
| Dwellings unoccupied on Census night | 4% | 9% |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census (CC BY 4.0). Tenure shares exclude households that did not state their tenure. Dwelling shares are of occupied private dwellings.
Home loan considerations in Colonel Light Gardens and Unley
Lenders treat houses on land, townhouses and apartments differently, and some apply extra conditions to small apartments, high-density buildings or particular postcodes. These are the points each guide raises.
Colonel Light Gardens
- Upgraders
- First home buyers
- Downsizers
- Every property sits within a State Heritage Area, so alterations and additions are referred to the Minister responsible for the Heritage Places Act 1993 before approval.
- Renovation and construction lending depends on approvals being in place, because the lender values the property on an as-if-complete basis.
- Unapproved or unsympathetic past alterations can affect both valuation and what a new owner is permitted to retain.
- Auction is common in tightly held owner-occupier suburbs, and South Australian auction purchases carry no cooling-off period or finance condition.
- Century-old housing raises inspection items such as salt damp, footings on reactive clay soils and original wiring, which can affect lending and insurance.
Unley
- Downsizers
- Investors
- Upgraders
- First home buyers
- Heritage listings and the Historic Area Overlay constrain demolition and alterations on many character properties.
- Auction purchases carry no cooling-off period or finance condition in South Australia, so preparation comes first.
- Valuations of character homes vary because renovation quality, allotment width and parking differ widely.
- Small units and apartments above commercial premises may attract lower maximum loan-to-value ratios.
- Corporation levies are counted in serviceability assessments and reduce borrowing power.
Housing stock in Colonel Light Gardens and Unley compared
Colonel Light Gardens
- 1920s bungalows
- Single-storey brick and render houses of the mid 1920s workingman's idiom derived from the Californian Bungalow; the dominant form throughout the suburb.
- Thousand Homes Scheme houses
- The suburb holds the majority of dwellings built under the 1920s mass housing programme that gave it its early identity.
- Semi-detached and townhouse dwellings
- Only 58 were counted at the 2021 Census, so attached housing is a small part of the market.
- Flats and apartments
- Just 35 were counted at the 2021 Census, mostly in small older groups near the suburb's edges.
Unley
- Character cottages and villas
- Nineteenth and early twentieth-century stone and brick houses on narrow allotments, many affected by heritage or historic area policy.
- Apartments and home units
- At 471 dwellings, or 27.1 per cent of occupied homes at the 2021 Census, flats are well above the national 14.2 per cent.
- Townhouses and semi-detached dwellings
- The 350 attached dwellings counted at the 2021 Census are a mix of historic row housing and later infill.
Official sale price and rent figures for Colonel Light Gardens and Unley
Only figures published free of charge by a government agency are shown. Where none is published the space is left empty rather than filled with an estimate. Each guide charts the full series.
Colonel Light Gardens
No government agency publishes a free median sale price or rent series for Colonel Light Gardens, so none is shown. A broker can supply recent comparable sales for a specific property as part of a free assessment.
Unley
No government agency publishes a free median sale price or rent series for Unley, so none is shown. A broker can supply recent comparable sales for a specific property as part of a free assessment.
Transport, schools and amenities in Colonel Light Gardens and Unley
Colonel Light Gardens
Transport
- Adelaide Metro buses (bus)
- Mitcham Station (train)
- Torrens Park Station (train)
- Goodwood Road (road)
- Springbank Road (road)
Schools and campuses
- Colonel Light Gardens Primary School (primary, government)
Amenities
- Reade Park
- Mortlock Park
- Colonel Light Gardens RSL Sub-Branch
- Goodwood Road shops
Unley
Transport
- Adelaide Metro buses (bus)
- Unley Park Station (train)
- Unley Road (road)
- King William Road (road)
- Greenhill Road (road)
Amenities
- Unley Road precinct
- King William Road precinct
- Adelaide Park Lands
- Unley Oval
School listings show name, level and sector only. Enrolment areas change, so confirm eligibility for a specific address with the school or the South Australia education department.
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Request a free assessment: Colonel Light Gardens or Unley
An accredited mortgage broker can check your borrowing power against prices in Colonel Light Gardens and Unley, and explain how lenders treat the homes you are considering. The assessment is free of charge and carries no obligation.