New research has found migration, from Australian capital cities to regional areas, is more than 20 per cent above pre-pandemic levels. The regional movers index released by the Regional Australia Institute and Commonwealth Bank, says cost-of-living pressures and housing affordability continue to drive regional migration. While some areas are seeing a boost a trend is emerging showing that "internal migrants" are moving away from the gold and sunshine coasts.
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00:00What we're seeing is that first move, as a city dweller considers that move, they're
00:07heading to sort of larger centres like the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, which we've
00:11consistently seen in our quarterly reports in the top five as hotspots. But what we're
00:17seeing more and more of is then that next move to places further afield, further inland,
00:25for example, into places like Maitland or indeed Toowoomba, depending on what region
00:32you're talking about. What we're also seeing is whilst the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and
00:39Geelong and some of these locations consistently take kind of larger share of population movement,
00:46when we consider annual growth, percentage annual growth hotspots, what starts to show
00:51up are smaller places. And for the first time in our quarterly report, we've seen places
00:57like Kappal, which is the southwest of Western Australia, communities like Bellingen and
01:04indeed the Surf Coast in Victoria. So showing up smaller places that are providing, you
01:11know, that high levels of livability, but perhaps don't have the congestion that larger
01:19centres might experience.
01:20Liz, how do you define livability? What is it?
01:25Yeah, livability is really about quality of life. So what is the amenity that you'd expect
01:31in these locations? We also know that, you know, livability is factors around, you know,
01:37environmental, you know, access to ocean and national parks, access to cultural amenity,
01:47the arts. We also know that health amenity and schooling, education and indeed child care.
01:56Many of these factors contribute to what we would call higher levels of wellbeing.
02:03And people think that getting out of the city, getting to some of these gorgeous places like
02:09the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, down in Geelong you say, gives them that, but they're
02:14not finding necessarily that that's the reality when they get there.
02:19Yeah, I think it's different for every mover. I mean, the reality is that, you know, city dwellers
02:25continue to tell us from our capital cities that, you know, they're looking for alternative
02:31lifestyles. So they often move to the larger regional centres. And then what we see is,
02:37you know, people continue to move even further afield. I think what's consistent in these
02:43reports is that, particularly as you mentioned in your opening remarks, we're sitting at 20%
02:48above pre-pandemic movements. This is the highest that we've seen in the last two years.
02:54And so what this data and index continues to tell us is that we're busting that myth that
03:01people believed that, you know, post COVID, the return back to the city would happen.
03:08And indeed it hasn't. Indeed, you know, the move is on. And I guess the message that I
03:15give to decision makers is that, you know, we are experiencing a major societal shift,
03:22and we need to start to get in front of it in terms of thinking about the planning and the
03:27infrastructure and the amenity that we need in our rural and regional communities. Because,
03:33you know, for example, we know that housing approvals and construction have never kept
03:39pace with population growth. And so there's certainly not keeping pace right now.
03:44Yeah, that 20% above pre-pandemic levels, I mean, that's quite a large figure. You could say working
03:52from home has a lot to do that people can be wherever quite often now in their jobs. But the
03:58cost of living in a city is far greater than it is in living in a regional community, isn't it?
04:07Yes, it is. I mean, the affordability factor is very much still there for a family who wants to
04:15own their home and have the great Australian dream. We know that, you know, the reason that
04:21we're seeing a big demographic shift in the movers, that the highest level of movers are
04:30actually our millennial cohort. And so we know that that demographic are, you know, they're
04:36seeking housing accommodation, they're seeking a lifestyle for their families. We know they're
04:43looking for more time, more space, more connection, not only with their family, but with community
04:49and being part of something. And so it's no surprise to us to see the millennial demographic
04:56leading the charge and the exodus out of our two largest capital cities being Sydney and Melbourne.