As the number of jobs outside of the major cities rises to a historic high, young Australians fed up with expensive housing are increasingly relocating to rural areas.
As working from home grows more popular, Generation X and Millennials are moving to provincial cities and small towns since Sydney and Melbourne housing is out of reach for those with average incomes.
The number of people moving to a small town in South Australia from the big cities has doubled in the past year, and the average age of these newcomers is 31.
In the year leading up to March, the population of Ceduna, a seaside municipal area 800 kilometers northwest of Adelaide with barely 3,400 persons, increased by 114%, with the average age of new residents rising to 31.
Mount Gambier, another town in South Australia, saw an increase of 85%, while Port Augusta, a town north of Adelaide, saw an increase of 74%; the average age of individuals moving in was 29.
The majority of those relocating from the main metropolis to the Gold Coast, Geelong, Newcastle, and Wollongong are millennials as well.
One-third of Domain searches for properties in regional NSW originated from Sydney, demonstrating how frustrated young individuals are with the high cost of housing.
A home in a regional area was viewed as a superior alternative, even when the real estate market cooled, according to Domain’s research director Nicola Powell, who noted a 40% increase in Sydney’s median house price between June 2020 and March 2022.
However, she added, it is unlikely that prices would go back to what they were before the epidemic. “We are anticipating the reduction in price increase to continue and purchasing circumstances to improve for buyers.”
“Affordability still plays a big part in finding a home.”
This is taking place in Sydney and the surrounding regions, especially as more people leave the city.
According to a Domain analysis on the NSW real estate market, Gen X and Millennials, aged 25 to 44, make up the majority of those relocating to the state’s rural districts in search of “affordability, a laid-back lifestyle, and greater space.”
In April, Sydney was the source of one-third of searches for a rural home on the real estate sales website.
Younger adults are attracted to regions within a two-hour drive of Sydney, as evidenced by the fact that homes in Wollongong and Newcastle are also selling the fastest.
Younger individuals made up the largest part of movers to regional areas in March, according to a research published by the Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest home lender.
A report on the March quarter was put together with CBA by the think tank Regional Australia Institute, which cited affordability as a major factor.
According to Liz Ritchie, chief executive of the institute, “Regional living is attracting more young people and particularly younger families who are searching for bigger living areas at a lower cost.”
In the year leading up to March, the number of new residents from capital cities increased by 56% in Moorabool, a suburb of Geelong.
The Western Downs region in southern Queensland also did well, with the average age of new inhabitants there being 35 and 30, respectively.
According to the study, between 50% and 2/3 of regional migrants to the Gold Coast, Geelong, Newcastle, and Wollongong in the year leading up to March were Millennials.
With a record-high 85,927 roles available in May, a 24 percent rise from a year earlier, data from the National Skills Commission showed that regional Australia is also experiencing a jobs boom.
The Gold Coast, which is outside of the capital cities, had 7,265 open positions in the past month, followed by Newcastle and the Hunter (6,466), the Sunshine Coast (3,842), Victoria’s Gippsland region (3,060), and the New South Wales Central West (2,406 vacancies).
According to the Commonwealth Bank-Regional Australia Institute research, the Gold Coast had the greatest percentage of regional migration at 11%, followed by the Sunshine Coast at 5%, Geelong at 4%, Wollongong at 3%, and Newcastle at 2%.
According to a Domain research on regional NSW, homes in Russell Vale, a suburb of Wollongong, sold their properties the quickest, with Haywards Bay not far behind.
Along with Yanderra in the Southern Highlands, the Newcastle suburbs of Hamilton North and Mayfield East were also among the top five.