Town by town snapshot: Indented Head

Town Profile

The size of Indented Head is approximately 4.1 square kilometres and has four parks covering nearly 6.2 per cent of total area.

The population of Indented Head in 2011 was 920 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 1,127 showing a population growth of 22.5 per cent in the area during that time.

Indented Head is a coastal township on the end of Bellarine Peninsula between Portarlington and St Leonards 43-kilometres across the bay from Melbourne.

Indented Head was named by Captain Matthew Flinders when exploring Port Phillip Bay in the ship ‘Investigator’ (1802).

Landing on the east side of the bay he ascended Arthurs Seat and observed on the opposite side of the bay the Bellarine Peninsula with the indented coastline which he named Indented Head.

The place was again noted in 1803 when Lieutenant Tuckey explored the bay, he was a member of the contingent which unsuccessfully settled at Sorrento.

It was from this contingent that the convict, William Buckley, absconded, and he crossed to the Bellarine Peninsula.

Until the 1850’s several pastoralists occupied the Indented Head area and a Road Board for the Portarlington district was enlarged eastwards on 29 October 1860, and renamed the Indented Head Road District.

At about the same time the Indented Head Farmers’ Association was formed, mainly with the objective of maintaining good prices for local wheat through import duties.

The Association later influenced land legislation, lobbied for grazing commons and animal pounds and conducted an annual ploughing contest.

It also pressed for services for emerging towns on the Bellarine peninsula.

In 1988, after decades of camping, Indented Head was described as having three shops and a cluster of houses.

The town has emerged as a popular bayside community made up of residents and holiday makers who enjoy the relative peacefulness that this coastal hamlet retains.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Indented Head is 60- 69 years with households in Indented Head being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,400 – $1,799 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Indented Head work in a professional occupation.

In 2011, 72.1 per cent of the homes in Indented Head were owner-occupied compared with 73 per cent in 2016.

 

Population: 1,133

Male: 48.5%

Female: 51.5%

Median age: 56

5 year population change: 22.5%

Median house price: $575,000

Change in Median Price: (5yrs) is 47.4%

Median asking rent per week: $355

Average length of ownership: 10

Owner occupiers: 78%

Renters: 22%

 

Historic median house price:

May 2019: $575,000

May 2018: $490,000

May 2017: $447,500

May 2016: $380,000

May 2015: $390,000

 

House sales per annum:

Period ending May 2019: 28

Period ending May 2018: 53

 

Land median sale price:

May 2019: $249,000

May 2018: $244,000

 

Land sales per annum:

Period ending May 2019: 7

Period ending May 2018: 19