Suburb Overview
Fairhaven is a coastal suburb in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 390, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 105 km from the Melbourne CBD, Fairhaven is a coastal area in Victoria. The median household income is $105,196 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3231
Postcode for Fairhaven, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
390
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$340/wk
Median weekly rent recorded at the 2021 Census — market rents have risen since, so treat this as a dated baseline, not a current figure.
Median household income
$105,196
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
105 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median house price
$1,906,500
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,993/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
32% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Fairhaven is a smaller community of 390 — about 5% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Households here earn $105,196/year on average — 11% above the VIC suburb median of $95,160 — a modest premium that supports resilient owner-occupier demand. At the 2021 Census, rent of $340/week covered 74% of the $1,993/month median mortgage recorded at the same Census, leaving a gap of roughly $520/month at the time. Rents and repayments have both risen since — re-run the numbers with current figures before drawing conclusions. Fairhaven is 105 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 32% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
Fairhaven vs Victoria Median
How Fairhaven stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Fairhaven sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Fairhaven | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 390 | 7,416 | -95% |
| Median household income | $105,196/yr | $95,160/yr | +11% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $340 | $380 | -11% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,993 | $1,950 | +2% |
| Distance to CBD | 105 km | 32 km | +228% |
| Separate houses | 32% | 78% | -46pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Fairhaven — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 390 residents — 5% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $105,196/year (+11% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $340/week rent (≈ $1,473/month) covered ~74% of the $1,993/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 105 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 32% separate houses — unit-heavy market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$199/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,993/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 17% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 390 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $340/week covered 74% of a $1,993/month mortgage, a $520/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
Only 32% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% VIC median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,993/month median mortgage in Fairhaven means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $199/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 390 residents, Fairhaven has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Commute distance: at 105 km from the nearest CBD, Fairhaven depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Strata exposure: only 32% of dwellings in Fairhaven are separate houses, so most investment stock is apartments or townhouses subject to body-corporate fees, sinking-fund levies and competing supply from new developments.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Fairhaven regardless of local market conditions.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Fairhaven are modest for 2026 — incomes 11% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 390 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~74% of the typical mortgage ($1,473/month rent vs $1,993/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Fairhaven is balanced heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fairhaven a good suburb for investment?
Whether Fairhaven suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 390, a median household income of $105,196/year and median weekly rent of $340. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Fairhaven?
The main demand drivers in Fairhaven are an above-state-median household income of $105,196/year, a dwelling mix that is 32% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Fairhaven?
Fairhaven has a usual resident population of approximately 390, compared with a Victoria suburb median of 7,416 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
How far is Fairhaven from the Melbourne CBD?
Fairhaven sits 105 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
What is the median rent in Fairhaven?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $340 in Fairhaven, equating to approximately $17,680/year in gross rental income (state median $380/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Fairhaven?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Fairhaven is $1,993, or approximately $23,916/year (vs $1,950/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
Is Fairhaven cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $340 works out to $1,473/month, covering 74% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,993/month. That leaves a $520/month shortfall (around $6,240/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Fairhaven?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (390 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,993 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (32% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Victoria market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Fairhaven profile
The population, postcode, median household income, and dwelling mix on this page are real figures from the ABS 2021 Census (income is the ABS median weekly household income annualised) and Australia Post. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage repayment are 2021 figures and are clearly labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.