People leaving the capital cities for regional areas are predominately choosing to move to regional NSW, Queensland and Victoria, with the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast the most favoured destinations today, according to new figures published by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI).
People leaving the capital cities for regional areas are predominately choosing to move to regional NSW, Queensland and Victoria, with the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast the most favoured destinations today, according to new figures published by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI).
Quitting metro areas for a seachange or treechange has become more popular since the pandemic. A big factor in this is people being able to work from home, meaning they can live anywhere they like.
This is resulting in a lot of millennial families choosing to buy cheaper homes in regional Locations.
The RAI says about 25% more people are moving from the cities to the regions than back in the other direction. During COVID, this was much higher at about 55%, and at current levels the relocation rate remains about 2.5% above the pre-COVID average.
Based on relocations data from the Commonwealth Bank, the RAI estimates that city to regional moves now account for 11.3% of all relocations within Australia.
Among all the city dwellers leaving the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life behind for the regions, 65% of them left Sydney and 35% left Melbourne.
Over the past year, the popularity of regional NSW surged and accounted for 36% of net capital city outflows, up from 26%.
The latest data from CoreLogic shows home values in regional NSW are up 4% over the past year and up 46.9% since the start of COVID in March 2020.
Net city outflows to regional Queensland were relatively steady at 32%. Home values in regional Queensland have increased 10.5% over the past year and 56.2% since March 2020.
Outflows were also reasonably steady in Victoria at 30%. Home values have fallen -0.7% in regional Victoria over the past year and are up 33.6% since March 2020.
The five most popular regional destinations among city dwellers are all in close proximity to the East Coast capitals.
This is a common choice, as people like to be able to return to the capitals with relative ease for work reasons and to regularly reconnect with friends and family.
Most popular regions with city relocators
1. Sunshine Coast, Queensland (13.4% share of net capital city to regional migration)
2. Gold Coast, Queensland (9.5% share)
3. Moorabool, Victoria (6.1% share)
4. Lake Macquarie, NSW (5.2% share)
5. Greater Geelong, Victoria (4.9% share)
New hotspots with city relocators
1. Northam, Western Australia (92.6% increase in net capital city to regional migration)
2. Waroona, Western Australia (76.7% increase)
3. Bridgetown-Greenbushes, Western Australia (75% increase)
4. Western Downs, Queensland (63.4% increase)
5. Whitsunday, Queensland (52.7% increase)
People leaving the cities tend to fall into two groups.
1. Empty nesters and retirees, many of whom purchase premium houses and apartments in desirable seachange and treechange areas
2. Young families who can work from home seeking better affordability in regional areas, typically buying ‘forever’ family homes with backyards
There’s another group of city relocators that will grow in size over the next decade. That’s workers moving to regional areas to work on major renewable energy projects, like wind farms.
This will cause a population surge in certain areas, pushing up values and encouraging new development, particularly apartments in many regional towns that have never had them before.
By John McGrath, Chief Executive Officer of McGrath Estate Agents.
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