Town by town snapshot: Fairhaven

Town Profile

The size of Fairhaven is approximately 5.2 square kilometres and is landlocked by the Otway National Park, Painkalac Creek and the Great Ocean Road.

The population of Fairhaven in 2011 was 354 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 276 showing a population decline of 22.0% in the area during that time.

Situated west of Aireys Inlet, on the other side of the inlet, the residential settlement of Fairhaven was established around 1948 and the older settlement of Eastern View which had a guest house around 1910.

The Eastern View subdivision estate was sold in the 1920’s to raise money for the Great Ocean Road.

The median house price in Aireys Inlet in 1987 was $74,250 and in 1996 it was $140,000. The low figure in 1987 was three years after the Ash Wednesday fires which destroyed 219 houses in Aireys Inlet, 177 in Fairhaven, 87 in Moggs Creek and 32 in Eastern View.

Although 83 per cent of dwellings in 1976 were holiday homes, the proportion has fallen to less than two-thirds.

Robert Cowan purchased land here in 1931 from John Sutherland and built a corrugated iron structure in the Gully next to the Great Ocean Rd.

He married Irene Mellor and they lived in the iron hut as they built ‘Fairhaven’ from handmade sand bricks.

Bruce Mellors paid £725 for the erection of the first bridge over the Palnkalac Creek to give easier access to the Mellor and Cowan properties.

From 1936 Fairhaven was run as a guesthouse, a large sign was prominent at the roadside entrance for many years.

The popular Fairhaven Surf Club was established after a meeting was held in 1958.
CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Fairhaven is 50-59 years with households in Fairhaven being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,800 – $2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Fairhaven work in a professional occupation.

In 2011, 85.8 per cent of the homes in Fairhaven were owner-occupied compared with 83.5 per cent in 2016.

PIC Fairhaven Surf Livesaving Club.jpg

Population: 296

Male: 53%

Female: 47%

Median age: 52

5 year population change: -22%

Median house price: $1,425,000

Change in Median Price: (5yrs) is 64%

Median asking rent per week: N/A

Average length of ownership: 12

Owner occupiers: 86%

Renters: 14%

Historic median house price:

May 2019: $1,425,000

May 2018: $1,020,000

May 2017: $858,000

May 2016: $1,037,500

May 2015: $750,000

House sales per annum:

Period ending May 2019: 15

Period ending May 2018: 17

Land median sale price:

May 2019: N/A

May 2018: N/A

Land sales per annum:

Period ending May 2019: 0

Period ending May 2018: 6