Migration to regional Australia more than double pre-COVID

Source: Australian Property Journal

The numbers are in on the accelerated escape from the city trend, with quarterly migration from capital cities to regional areas over the past two years up 15% on the two years prior to the global pandemic.

According to the latest Regional Movers Index, produced in partnership by the Commonwealth Bank and the Regional Australia Institute (RAI), the December quarter index showed net migration to the country’s regions is more than double what it was in the two years pre-COVID.

“City siders have really embraced Australia’s regions over the past two years and as we see flexible working arrangements continue and Australia’s domestic and international borders opening up, it’s likely we will continue to see this movement as people recognise the benefits of a regional lifestyle,” said Paul Fowler, executive general manager for regional and agribusiness banking at CBA.

The trend does appear to be stabilising however, as migration to the regions, while still strong, was down 10% on the previous quarter.

This was partly attributed to factors such as seasonal conditions, accelerated regional housing price growth and the high levels recorded in previous quarters.

The Gold Coast was still the most popular destination among movers across the full calendar year of 2021, accounting for 11% of all migrators.

This was followed by the Sunshine Coast, which saw a 5%, Greater Geelong with 4% and Wollongong with 3%.

“It is particularly exciting that many of the smaller regions showing high rates of growth are inland towns. It looks like the pandemic is changing some long-established movement paths, which is a good sign for more balanced population growth across Australia in the future,” said Kim Houghton, chief economist and acting CEO at RAI.

Unsurprisingly, given COVID conditions and population levels, both Sydney and Melbourne saw the vast majority of net outflows for the year, at 53% and 46% respectively.

NSW also took in 50% of regional inflows for the year, with Victoria taking in 21% and Queensland 20%.

While both Queensland and South Australia contained the areas with the most significant annual growth in migration for 2021.

Port Augusta in South Australia, saw the strongest growth for the year at 54%, followed by Douglas, QLD at 49% and Western Downs at 48%.