Many of the people who moved away from a capital city in 2016-17 moved to an adjacent area. Some of these areas are coastal or lifestyle markets with more affordable housing, according to Cameron Kusher, head of research at CoreLogic.
In its latest Property Pulse report, CoreLogic analysed the regional population and migration data for 2016-17 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Kusher focused his analysis on internal movements from the Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs) to other SA4 regions across Australia.
“There are multiple reasons why we’re seeing more people move to new locations, however, it’s generally for more affordable housing or because they’re looking for a sea change/tree change,” Kusher said.
Six of the top 10 regions for arrival of former Sydney residents were within New South Wales, with the remainder going to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Queensland, and Victoria. For people migrating from Sydney, the most popular destinations were those directly adjacent to the city, such as Newcastle/Lake Macquarie and Illawarra. The ACT and Gold Coast also recorded more than 5,000 new residents arriving from Sydney over the past year.
The top five most popular destinations for former Melbourne residents were all within Victoria, closely adjacent to Melbourne. Latrobe-Gippsland (7,259 arrivals) and Geelong (6,894 arrivals) have attracted the largest number of former Melbourne residents over the past year. Seven of the top 10 regions for arrivals of former Melbourne residents were all within Victoria, with the Gold and Sunshine Coasts accounting for the other three regions in the top 10.
Seven of the top 10 regions for arrivals of departing Brisbane residents were located within QLD. The Gold and Sunshine Coasts recorded a much higher number of arrivals from Brisbane than any of the other regions on the list.
“Interestingly, the data also suggests that those migrating away from Brisbane to other areas of QLD tend to remain in the southern areas of the state,” CoreLogic said. “The three regions of top migration from Brisbane that aren’t within the state are Melbourne-Inner, Richmond-Tweed (directly adjacent to the Gold Coast) and the ACT.”
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