Town snapshot – Ocean Grove

The size of Ocean Grove is about 18.5sqkm and has 22 parks covering nearly 16.5 per cent of total area.

The population of Ocean Grove in 2016 was 14,161 and by the 2021 Census the population was recorded at 19,394 showing a population growth of 37% in the area during that time.

There has been significant growth in Ocean Grove since the last Census with nearly 1,000 vacant lots and over 1,800 homes exchanging hands in recent years driving the population quickly to beyond 20,000.

The past five years has seen a massive investment in residential real estate seeing the median house price rocketing past $1,000,000.

Supporting this residential growth is the popular Kingston Village that services much of the new growth area and more.

Although Ocean Grove’s origins date back to the 1870s with the establishment of a Methodist camp, the early 1950s saw many post war European migrant families settled in Ocean Grove, mainly Dutch, Polish, German and Yugoslav.

Ocean Grove underwent a building boom during the 1970s and 1980s, but even during the previous decade it became evident that urban growth would be paramount.

In 1962, long-time residents raised money to purchase an 81 hectare piece of land considered to be the last significant bushland in the area.

Named the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve, it is a habitat for a rare small blue butterfly which breeds in ant nests.

Ocean Grove is the largest town on the Bellarine Peninsula and performs an increasing dormitory role to Geelong, with the number of holiday homes declining as more families make Ocean Grove their home.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Ocean Grove is 0-9 years with households in Ocean Grove being primarily couples with children and are likely to be repaying on average $2,000 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Ocean Grove work in a professional occupation.

TIDBIT:

In 2009, the former HMAS Canberra was scuttled and opened to divers as an artificial dive reef a few kilometers off Ocean Grove