Town snapshot – Inverleigh

The size of Inverleigh is about 211.7sqkm and has three parks covering nearly 5.5 per cent of total area.

The population of Inverleigh in 2016 was 1,468 and by the 2021 Census the population was recorded at 1,746 showing a population growth of 20 per cent in the area during that time.

Inverleigh is a rural township at the junction of the Barwon and Leigh Rivers 30km from Geelong.

Once considered a sleepy hollow, Inverleigh has become a vibrant younger community that thrives in this charming rural village so handy to everything.

Semi-rural country living within easy commute to Geelong, Melbourne, and the coast is a high priority for many home buyers, which has seen the median house price for Inverleigh surge several hundred thousand in a few short years.

Values have now corrected slightly in line with overall market conditions but Inverleigh’s popularity will see values in this trusted community perform better than its urban counterparts.

In 1843 William Lawson built an inn near a ford across the Barwon River and not only was the inn conveniently near a river crossing, the land thereabouts was flood prone, and the silt left by the waters was ideal for farming.

Settlers had orchards and dairying and Lawson built a new hotel, named the Horseshoe Inn during 1851-53, and a township was proclaimed in 1853 leading to a bridge over the Barwon being built in 1855.

Inverleigh maintained a comparatively consistent population level during the years after World War II, with about a 30 per cent growth between 1971 and 1996.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Inverleigh is 0-9 years with households in Inverleigh being primarily young couples with children and are likely to be repaying on average $1,950 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Inverleigh work in a managers occupation.

AGENT PERSPECTIVE:

“Inverleigh is a popular country town offering a great blend of country living, whilst being only a 30 minute commute into Geelong.

“The area offers a wide array of property including large residential, limited commercial, superb small acreage lifestyle blocks and larger farming properties.

“The Inverleigh Hotel and the adjoining food offerings along High Street are ever popular, along with the well-regarded primary school and local football and netball club.

“Over the past 10 years the market has opened up with the release of numerous 1 to 3 acre subdivisions, causing a more recent increase in market supply as those blocks were purchased, subsequently built on and re-sold in recent years.

“This prestige aspect of the market normally attracts buyers from Geelong or downsizers from further afield, and the sale of 79 Gregory Drive late last year indicated strong consistent growth with a market topper of $1,855,000 (compared to the property’s last sale in 2020 for $1,350,000).

“Statistically, Inverleigh tends to be more of a Private Treaty market with minimal Auction’s noted with an average of 18 properties sold every year (over the most recent 6 year period), with the median house price currently sitting at $1,167,000.

“Spring and autumn tend to be the strongest sale periods for Inverleigh and with a complex economic forecast ahead it will be interesting to see how this popular lifestyle destination responds.”

Matt Poustie – sales manager, HF Richardson Property

TIDBIT:

The Hamilton Highway was originally the Lower Leigh Road, an early track to Victoria’s Western District.

Population: 1,746

Male: 50.8%

Female: 49.2%

Median age: 38

5 year population change: 20%

House median sales price: $790,000

Change in median price: (5yrs) 49.1%

Median asking rent per week: $420

Average length of ownership: 13 years

Owner occupiers: 94%

Renters: 6%

House median value:

June 2024: $1,167,000

June 2023: $951,200

June 2022: $1,250,000

June 2021: $918,000

June 2020: $590,000

House sales per annum:

Period ending June 2024: 13

Period ending June 2023: 19

Land median sale price:

June 2024: $535,000

June 2023: $515,000

Land sales per annum:

Period ending June 2024: 13

Period ending June 2023: 6