Town snapshot – Portarlington

The size of Portarlington is about 24.8sqkm and has many parks covering nearly 8.9 per cent of total area.

The population of Portarlington in 2016 was 3,618 and by the 2021 Census the population was 4,436 showing a population growth of 24 per cent in the area during that time.

Portarlington has become another one of the Bellarine’s favoured destinations, as such the population has swelled since the last Census with today’s resident population punching its way to surpass 5,000.

The town has transformed from a coastal hamlet dominated by holiday homes with stalwart local home owners being in the minority, to a town where both young families and retirees want to call home.

One of the factors contributing to the town popularity is the daily ferry service which Port Phillip Ferries offer with two separate daily services between both Docklands and Portarlington; and Docklands and Geelong.

Located on the north-east side of the Bellarine Peninsula, Portarlington’s naming is a little obscure, possibly it was named after Portarlington in Ireland, a market town south-west of Dublin.

Surveyed town lots were first sold in Portarlington in 1851, about eight years after Anne Drysdale settled at nearby Drysdale on her pastoral run.

The Bellarine Peninsula was an early agricultural region for cereal crops, and later for hay, onions, peas and potatoes.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Portarlington is 50-59 years with households in Portarlington being a mix of young families childless couples and are likely to be repaying on average $1,657 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Portarlington work in a professional occupation.

AGENT PERSPECTIVE:

“Exciting times in Portarlington with the first stage of Panorama Portarlington now settled.

“Stage 2 is titled and likely to settle next week and Stage 3 is forecast for settlement in September.

“New residents will soon commence construction so we look forward to seeing this wonderful community evolve over coming years.

“More broadly, the Port Phillip Ferry service has secured state government funding for another four years underling the government commitment to the region.”

Luke Campbell – Director, Neville Richards

TIDBIT:

Portarlington’s first public jetty was opened in 1859, lengthened into deeper water in 1870 and rebuilt a few years later.

Population: 4,436

Male: 48.2%

Female: 51.8%

Median age: 62

5 year population change: 24%

House median sales price: $932,500

Change in median price: (5yrs) 48.7%

Median asking rent per week: $487

Average length of ownership: 13 years

Owner occupiers: 73%

Renters: 27%

House median value:

July 2024: $881,662

July 2023: $889,350

July 2022: $983,000

July 2021: $863,600

July 2020: $637,000

House sales per annum:

Period ending July 2024: 98

Period ending July 2023: 56

Land median sale price:

July 2024: $630,000

July 2023: $570,000

Land sales per annum:

Period ending July 2024: 8

Period ending July 2023: 7