Town by Town Snapshot: Anglesea

The size of Anglesea is about 96.9 square kilometres with the population recorded at 2,453 in 2011 and by the 2016 Census the population was 2,551 showing a population growth of 4.0 per cent in the area during that time.

Anglesea is a popular coastal hinterland town protected from the elements by Point Roadknight and the Otway’s.
It is crossed by the Anglesea River, originally called Swampy Creek because of its greater inland width back from the beach sands.
In 1884 local land owners subdivided land for sale into 8 hectare lots, about three years after a boarding house had been opened for holiday-makers.
Shortly afterwards, a post office (1883), Presbyterian church (1887) and hotel (1890) formed a village, but the population was mostly visitors.
The name was changed to Anglesea in about 1884, probably derived from the Isle of Anglesea in Wales.
Unlike Aireys Inlet, 10 km south-westwards along the coast, Anglesea had acceptable road access from Geelong and Torquay.
During the early 1900s, it attracted several holiday homes, a general store and a new road (1915), an Anglesea regatta (1916) and the beginning of the Great Ocean Road (1919).
The Anglesea Scout camp (1923) was the first prominent Scout camp in Australia.
A forest plantation was established at Anglesea in 1924 and three years later, the increased population, of whom several were forestry workers, required the opening of the primary school (which had 108 pupils in 2014).
Golf links, tennis courts, reticulated electricity, the Great Ocean Road and more shops and tea rooms were opened before World War II.
An important aspect of Anglesea’s future tourism emerged with the formation of the Surf Club in 1952.
The town has a peak holiday population of over 10,000 persons, of whom nearly 3,000 are caravanners, campers and young people in youth camps.
CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Anglesea is 60-69 years with households in Anglesea being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,800-$2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Anglesea work in a professional occupation.
In 2011, 73 per cent of the homes in Anglesea were owner-occupied compared with 75.3 per cent in 2016. Currently the median sales price of houses in the area is $950,000.

TIDBIT: In 1958, exploratory mining uncovered abundant brown coal, which led to the construction of the Alcoa mine that has since shut down.

Population: 2,551
Male: 49.9%
Female: 50.1%
Median age: 51
5 year population change: 4%
Median house price: $950,000
Change in Median Price: (5yrs) is 61.9%
Median asking rent per week: $457
Average length of ownership: 16 years
Owner occupiers: 79%
Renters: 21%

median house price:
April 2020: $950,000
April 2019: $850,000
April 2018: $840,000
April 2017: $676,000
April 2016: $670,000

House sales per annum:
Period ending April 2020: 72
Period ending April 2019: 73

Land median sale price:
April 2020: N/A
April 2019: N/A

Land sales per annum:
Period ending April 2020: 4
Period ending April 2019: 4