Growth in tree changers
RECORD numbers of Aussies are shunning the larger capital cities for smaller towns, with the trend mainly driven by families and Millennials, according to a new report.
Fed up with traffic jams, stress and the higher cost of living, capital city residents are packing their bags for the regions, says removalist search engine company Muval.
The Muval Index 2021 looks at how Australian adults are moving around the nation compared to previous years.
It says regional Australia continues to boom as record numbers of Aussies move from capital cities to smaller towns and communities where there are more jobs available than previously.
And it’s young people and Millennials who are making the move, often helped by working-from-home roles that would traditionally have been based in cities.
The data is backed up by ABS figures in the quarter ending December, showing capital cities suffered a net loss of 10,600 people compared to pre-pandemic 2019, when just 3800 city folk moved to regional Australia.
The Muval report found recent lockdowns in Melbourne and Sydney led to spikes in searches by residents looking to move. There has also been a continued departure of residents from Sydney in search of better house prices and lifestyles elsewhere.
A net 31,600 Sydneysiders farewelled the Harbour City for other parts of the country in 2020, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics internal migration statistics.
A Regional Australia Institute survey in December of 1000 capital city adults also found one in five is considering moving to the regions. Most said they’d make the leap in the next year.
Traffic congestion (70 per cent), reducing stress and anxiety (69 per cent) and reducing the cost of living (68 per cent) were the top reasons people were seeking the change.
Searches for people moving to Adelaide also continued to stay higher than people moving out, delivering the City of Churches an average 29 per cent positive net migration in the year to June 30.
Brisbane ended the financial year with the highest level of growth in net migration.
Meanwhile, Melbourne managed to bounce back from its mass exodus after last year’s extended lockdown, but snap lockdowns this year prompted a resurgence of people looking to move.
“Whilst international borders remain closed, the shape of the nation within Australia is changing at a pace we haven’t seen before,” Muval co-founder James Morrell said.
“We were already a transient nation pre-March 2020, however the pandemic has only enhanced this.
“The findings shine a light on how transient Australian adults are.”