Town by town snapshot: Drysdale

Town Profile: Drysdale

The size of Drysdale is approximately 40.1 square kilometres and it has eight parks covering nearly 1.6 per cent of the total area.

The population of Drysdale in 2011 was 4,316 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 4,272 showing a population decline of 1.0 per cent in the area during that time.

With the Drysdale real estate market showing no sign of slowing, the town continues to be one of the Bellarine’s outstanding performers since the last census.

The population has most likely surpassed 5,000 people with young families and investors leading the charge in recent years to see the median house price jump by over 60 per cent since 2016.

Drysdale’s beginnings started in 1848 when Anne Drysdale (1792-1853) and her partner Caroline Newcomb (1812-74) acquired a farm north-west of the intersection of Jetty and Geelong-Portarlington Roads.

Anne Drysdale had prior farming experience in Scotland and on a pastoral run east of Geelong. Drysdale and Newcomb were successful farmers and built the Coryule homestead.

The heritage-listed homestead is in McDermott Road, Curlewis, immediately west of Drysdale.

At that time the district was known as Bellerean or Bellarine, then Tuckfield (c.1854) and by the end of the decade, Drysdale.

The town developed not around the churches, but the Buck’s Head Hotel (1852) at the corner of Collins Street and the Drysdale-St Leonards Road.

The land around Drysdale was fertile and the location was considered to be healthy.

Settlement was relatively dense, and in 1853 a Road District was created for all the coastal area between Geelong and Portarlington and the Road Board’s office (1856) was built in Drysdale.

Until the 1950s, Drysdale was primarily an agricultural township with amenities that included a bowling green, croquet lawn, churches and a shire hall. Beyond the old shire office there is the former Drysdale Railway Station at the junction of the Bellarine rail trail and the start of the tourist railway to Queenscliff.

CoreLogic data indicates the predominant age group in Drysdale is 60-69 years with households in Drysdale being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,800 – $2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Drysdale work in a professional occupation.

In 2011, 82.8 per cent of the homes in Drysdale were owner-occupied compared with 81.4 per cent in 2016.

 

AGENT PERSPECTIVE:

“2021 has seen Drysdale go from strength to strength, and as we approach the latter of the year, still no signs of slowing down!

“Drysdale is still at the top of a lot of peoples list, due to the variety of houses available; it offers everything from units close to town, large family homes, new homes and developments in Central Walk Estate and then your lifestyle/acreage properties.

“Buyers love the central location to the rest of the Bellarine, and the fact that we’re only a 20 minute drive to the Geelong CBD, we are seeing more Geelong-based groups making the decision to sell up and buy down here.

“The country charm still tugs at the heart strings, and we really do offer the best of all worlds.”

Michaela Miller – Hayeswinckle Drysdale

 

TIDBIT:

From 1836 Governor Bourke started issuing licences to squatters for the occupation of unalienated Crown Land at a price of 10 pounds per year.

Population: 4,272

Male: 47%

Female: 53%

Median age: 49

5 year population change: 1%

House median value: $745,000

Change in median price: (5yrs) is 62%

Median asking rent per week: $385

Average length of ownership: 10 years

Owner occupiers: 84%

Renters: 16%

 

House median sale price:

March 2021: $617,000

March 2020: $590,000

March 2019: $510,000

March 2018: $445,000

March 2017: $420,000

 

House sales per annum:

Period ending March 2021: 79

Period ending March 2020: 61

Land median sale price:

March 2021: $282,500

March 2020: $300,000

Land sales per annum:

Period ending March 2021: 57

Period ending March 2020: 35