Australia is facing a second exodus from unaffordable big cities, with South East Queensland the hotspot for people fleeing Sydney and Melbourne for good.
A report from the Regional Institute of Australia found that the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast are the two most popular destinations for people leaving the big city for a regional area.
This was followed by Moorabool, an area northwest of Melbourne containing towns such as Bacchus Marsh, Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle, and the regional Victorian city of Geelong.
People who move to a regional area are more likely to be between 28 and 43 years old, the age group in which people are more likely to get married and have children.
The exodus – which follows an earlier move of young people from the two largest cities during Covid – is expected to have a significant impact on families as millennials move further away from their boomer parents to have children of their own.
“When it comes to Sydney residents, it’s millennials who are leading the way in the region,” the report said.
According to Liz Ritchie, director of the Regional Australia Institute, the move from big cities to regional areas was more than a Covid fad.
“This population growth can no longer be seen as an odd consequence of the lockdown years,” she said. “There is a societal shift happening.”
Australia is facing a second wave of exodus from unaffordable big cities amid fears it will worsen the national housing shortage
According to Dr Tony Matthews, a lecturer in urban planning at Griffith University in Brisbane, the influx of young people from Sydney and Melbourne to the Gold Coast is likely to lead to more high-rise apartments near the beach.
South East Queensland is facing a housing shortage, with Dr Matthews saying there are ‘too many people wanting to live here and not enough homes available’.
“If you can travel to the Gold Coast you’ll probably have a better lifestyle, less travel and more time on the beach,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘When there is population pressure and you don’t want to use more and more land, the only solution in terms of urban planning is higher density.’
Property on the Gold Coast is now more expensive than the suburbs of major capital cities. The average house price in Elanora has risen 16.8 per cent in the past year to $1.385 million, making it on par with homes in Sydney’s busy western suburbs.
A closer look at data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that parts of south-east Queensland are also experiencing some of the country’s highest population growth.
Caloundra West on the Sunshine Coast saw a population growth of 9.8 per cent in 2023, largely based on 1,407 new residents from other parts of Australia.
Miami on the Gold Coast saw its population grow by 4.7 percent, with 116 new residents from Australia and 201 from overseas.
This came as 38,425 people left Sydney to move to another part of Australia as house prices rose due to high levels of overseas immigration.
Relocation to regional areas is increasing as the country grapples with a housing crisis, with construction companies now accounting for a quarter of bankruptcies.
According to Dr Matthews, it is unlikely that construction companies that have survived higher material costs will be able to scale up to meet increased demand for new housing as the population grows.
South East Queensland is the hotspot for people fleeing the capital as young people once again leave Sydney for good, as they did during the pandemic (pictured are houses in Ipswich)
“For every construction company that goes bankrupt, there’s one less. So there are fewer companies trying to handle the same volume of work. And it’s not like the survivors can scale up quickly,” he said.
“It also limits the choice in the market for consumers. So it’s a very bad situation and the worst thing you can have right now.”
The number of new homes continues to lag behind record-high immigration.
In the year to March, 171,667 new homes were built, while 487,940 migrants moved to Australia.
That represents a shortfall of 58,772, based on Australian households with an average of 2.5 people.
“Any resource where demand is significantly greater than supply, the price goes up – economics 101,” Dr. Matthews said.
‘The direction of the migration system, at the moment and in recent years, has absolutely exacerbated the problem; it certainly puts more pressure on a system that is already under great strain.’