Hotspotting

The new Spring edition of The Price Predictor Index provides emphatic confirmation of the most compelling trend in Australian real estate: the escalating demand for apartments and their challenge to houses on capital growth performance.

We have been speaking about the rise and rise of apartments for the past 18 months and there is a growing body of evidence which confirms that more and more buyers are opting for attached dwellings: units, apartments and townhouses.

Our analysis of sales activity data for the latest quarter for the Spring edition of The Price Predictor Index reveals that this trend is dominating markets across Australia.

For example, there is a stark contrast in the Sydney market. In simple terms, unit markets are pumping and house markets are not - and the market share of attached dwellings continues to rise.

In most of the Greater Sydney areas where sales activity is strong, it’s the unit markets that are most active. Outer ring house markets are generally subdued, suggesting that those seeking affordable options are choosing apartments and townhouses.

The dominance of attached dwellings in Sydney market performance can be seen in various metrics. While 45% of locations with house markets have positive (rising, recovery, consistent) rankings in this analysis, 67% of unit markets are positive.

This coincides with further evidence that a growing share of dwelling sales in the Greater Sydney market are attached dwellings. Comparing the June Quarter results for the past four years, the market-share of units was 48% in 2021, 50% in 202, 52% in 2023 and 54% in 2024. There’s a pretty clear pattern emerging there.

Sydney’s experience, with attached dwellings outperforming detached, is part of a strong national trend that is also evident in other cities and some of the regional jurisdictions.

In the Brisbane City LGA, elevated demand for units is driving overall activity. In Melbourne, which overall continues to under-achieve, a key exception is provided by inner-city unit markets. And Canberra is experiencing a similar scenario.  

While just over half of Canberra markets overall have positive ratings, 78% of unit markets have rising, recovery or consistent classifications based on sales activity trends. Of the 36 unit markets in our Canberra analysis, only 3 have negative ratings. 

While only 35% of house markets are classified as rising markets, 61% of unit markets in Canberra have this rating.

Affordability is likely a major driver of this trend. Canberra has a median house price close to $1 million (PropTrack data), higher than Melbourne and Brisbane. But its median unit price is $605,000, notably cheaper than Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, and on a par with Adelaide. The market share of units is rising year by year and attached dwellings now account for 44% of dwelling sales in Canberra, compared to 41% in 2021.

In booming Perth, the strongest markets in Perth now are well-located locations with a major presence of attached dwellings. 

While the most popular house markets for home buyers and investors (mostly those at the affordable end of the market) are a little less buoyant than earlier in the Perth up-cycle, the focus is switching for affordable units.

Perth started this boom with a reputation as the most affordable capital city housing market. After a couple of years of stellar price growth, that’s no longer the case. Perth is now well above Hobart and Darwin with its median house price and challenging Adelaide. 

Perth now has a median house price of around $800,000, but its median unit price is in the low $500,000s, still well below that of Hobart and Adelaide. 

When the bargain suburbs have house medians above $500,000, the big attraction that caused the stampede starts to fade. So now buyers in Perth, increasingly, are looking at unit markets, which are less competitive than the house markets.

So now units are capturing a growing market-share in Perth, similar to the scenarios in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra.

And units are out-performing.

In the new Spring edition of the Price Predictor Index, 29% of Perth house markets are3 classified as rising but almost 50% of unit markets are ranked as rising, based on trends with sales activity.

Clearing, the trend with more and more buyers opting for attached dwellings over detached houses, is gathering momentum.

It’s a major paradigm shift in Australian real estate – and at Hotspotting we believe this trend is here for the long term.

Affordability is the most-debated and the most confused issue in residential real estate.

While the rental shortage and rising rents occupies the minds of many, the property issue that occupies the most space most often in news media and in the minds of Australian consumers is housing affordability.

It has been this way for years, indeed for decades. And while the so-called Great Australian Dream is often declared dead, with young people doomed to a lifetime of renting, the evidence suggests otherwise.

I recently finished working on a report with financial comparison website Canstar which demonstrates that the Dream is very much alive.

The Deposit Stars report shows that there are attainable options for young buyers in all our city and regional markets, including the biggest and most expensive cities.

And the finance data indicates our property markets remain as active as ever. 

A report from the Housing Industry Association in August 2024 noted that “various segments of the housing market are increasingly active, with lending to first-home buyers, owner occupiers, and investors increasing in the first half of 2024”, based on the latest ABS lending data.

HIA economist Maurice Tapang said: “This increase in lending is partially driven by first home buyers. The number of loans issued to FHBs in the June quarter was 5.8% higher than the March quarter.”

This reflects ABS data on the broader market encompassing all types of residential real estate loans up to the end of June 2024.

One of the reasons home ownership is often declared beyond the reach of the average consumer is that most reports are based on unrealistic parameters. 

As I comment in the Deposit Stars report, most analysis on affordability is based on the size of a 20% deposit to buy a house at the median price in our major cities and how long it would take to save such a deposit.

These reports preclude the possibility of smaller deposits, particularly with the help of government programs. 

They overlook the reality that most people entering the market for the first time buy houses in the lower price ranges well below the city’s median price.

And they usually ignore the preference of many buyers for attached dwellings – apartments, townhouses and units - and not only because they’re cheaper.

Many of the locations featured in the Canstar report reflect a growing phenomenon in Australian real estate: the rise of attached dwellings as the home of choice by more and more buyers.

A range of cohorts are opting increasingly for units and townhouses, including downsizers, lifestyle buyers, migrants and first-home buyers.

One of the features that draws growing numbers to apartments is location appeal. Not only do attached dwellings allow people to access property in good locations at cheaper prices than houses, but the average unit is better located than the average house.

The “Measuring Home Price Differences” report by Infrastructure Victoria found that units consistently trump houses on proximity to desirable features. 

The report says: “Units are located closer to selected infrastructure types, on average, than houses and townhouses.”

This is one of multiple factors driving higher demand for units – challenging the dominant paradigm of real estate (that houses always outperform units and townhouses on capital growth).

That is undoubtedly changing.

Recently Ubank, which is a division of National Australia Bank, published a survey which found more than half of Gen Z and Millennials who don’t own a home are looking to make a move on the property market within the next five years.

56 per cent of survey respondents – all Australian Gen Z and Millennials between the ages of 18 to 43 – aim to purchase their first property within the next five years.

Nine out of 10 respondents agrees that purchasing a home was one of their goals in life – although most acknowledged it won’t be easy.

In addition to all that, research from the Commonwealth Bank confirms that ownership remains an ambition and that the number of first-time buyers going it alone is growing.

According to data from the big four bank, 40 per cent of first home buyers purchased their property alone in the first six months of 2024 – without going in on the purchase with a partner, friend, or family member.

That’s a jump from the 35 per cent of first-time buyers doing the same in 2019.

So there is compelling evidence that home ownership not only remains a primary goal for young Australians, but that it is being achieved in growing numbers.

In this episode of the Hotspotting Podcast, Tim Graham sits down with Arjun Paliwal, the Managing Director of Investorkit and a two-time REB Buyers Agency of the Year winner.

Arjun shares insights on his unique approach to property investment, focusing on "buying against the grain."

Here are some of the key topics discussed: 

Episode Highlights: Introduction to Arjun Paliwal: Arjun kicks off by talking about his journey in the property industry, how he scaled Investorkit, and the importance of innovation in finding investment hotspots.

The Concept of 'Buying Against the Grain': Arjun explains what it means to buy against market trends, how it can lead to high returns, and why this strategy is not for the faint-hearted.

Leveraging AI in Property Investment: Learn how Investorkit utilizes over $500k annually in AI technology to identify growth opportunities in the property market.

Challenges and Successes: Arjun shares stories of both successful investments and the challenges faced when buying against the market tide.

Practical Advice for Investors: For those interested in adopting this strategy, Arjun offers practical advice on how to get started and what to look out for.

The Future of Property Investment: Arjun and Tim discuss the future of the property market in Australia, with insights into emerging trends and what investors should be prepared for.

To Connect with Arjun & his team, please visit www.investorkit.com.au

Australian real estate has been characterised by three different types of shortage which have put upward pressure on rents and prices.

Those are the shortage of rental properties, the shortage of new dwellings under construction and the shortage of homes listed for sale.

While the shortage of rental homes and the under-supply of new homes persists, there has been recent improvement in the number of homes listed for sale by vendors.

SQM Research finds that the number of residential property listings nationwide rose by 8% in August, bringing the total to almost 250,000 properties, up from 231,000 recorded in July.

In annual terms, listings of homes for sale are now 11% higher than a year. 

Nationally, new listings recorded a 12% surge in August, with over 73,000 fresh property listings entering the market.

Sydney new listings were the highest level ever recorded for the month of August, according to SQM.

It reports that total listings of homes for sale in August recorded significant increases across most major cities.

Even boom cities like Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide recorded major increases in the number of properties for sale.

Indeed, Perth had an 11% monthly increase in listings, reaching over 13,000 properties for sale – BUT Perth remains the only city with a significant yearly decrease, still 21% below August last year.

Canberra up 11% and Adelaide up 9% both showed solid monthly growth in listings – and Canberra experienced the largest yearly increase of all major cities at 32%.

Brisbane reported a moderate monthly increase of 7% in August, bringing the total to a little over 18,000 listings – which is 3.3% higher than a year ago.

These improvements in listings of homes for sale – which may be inspired by the belief that Spring is a good time to sell – may take some of the pressure off dwelling prices, particularly if the rise in action by vendors continues in September and October.

State governments across Australia have no meaningful policies for easing the chronic under-supply of rental properties – but they do have a talent for using the rental shortage as an excuse to raise extra revenue from the housing market.

One of the primary tactics they use is to scapegoat a section of the community and blame them for the problem that they, the politicians, have created – and then hit the demonised group with new taxes and pretend that they’re doing it to deal with the rental shortage.

The worst offender in this regard, although not the only one, is the State Government in Victoria.

Victoria, which has the highest property taxes in the nation, is by far the worst place in Australia to own an investment property – and the State Government there continues to work hard to confirm that reputation.

Its latest move is to blame the rental shortage on property owners who use short-term letting platforms like Airbnb, rather than have permanent tenants.

Choosing to use short-term letting is a perfectly reasonable and legal thing to do – and there is considerable public demand for houses and apartments made available for holiday letting, as an alternative to expensive hotel rooms.

But the Victoria Government has decided to demonise owners to use Airbnb and other similar platforms so that they can hit them with a major new tax and raise some desperately needed revenue for a government that is strapped for cash.

They’re claiming it will fix the rental shortage, but of course it won’t.

Airbnb didn’t cause the rental shortage in Victoria or elsewhere in Australia – it’s a very minor part of a much larger problem, and curtailing it won’t create higher vacancies and lower rents for permanent tenants.

This has been confirmed by a number of university studies, including one by the University of Queensland which found that banning short-term letting would not make any significant difference to the rental shortage.

And RMIT University in Melbourne has come up with a similar finding.

An RMIT University expert says the Victorian short stay rental reforms won’t solve the rental housing crisis.

Dr Liam Davies, an urban planning expert from RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, says the new powers granted to Victorian councils and owners corporations to restrict or ban short stay rentals are UNLIKELY to have a significant impact on the state’s housing crisis.

Dr Davies said the reforms will likely have minimal effect on overall rental affordability.

He says: “This change to short stay accommodation is likely to have positive benefits at a local level but may not significantly impact the state’s rental affordability issues.” 

Dr Davies cautioned against expecting widespread changes to the rental market as a result of these policies.

He said it’s unlikely that all those Airbnb dwellings would be shifted to long-term rentals – so the effect of the reform will probably be minimal.

The most likely response of property owners faced with these new restrictions will be to sell – as many investor owners of Victorian properties have already done recently – thereby making the property shortage worse.

CoreLogic is one of Australia's leading sources of data on residential real estate matters, although increasingly overshadowed by other, smarter data organisations like PropTrack.

CoreLogic has lots of statistics about housing markets but when it comes to analysis and commentary, CoreLogic is very often a source of illogic.

Their problem, like so many companies that comment on Australian housing markets, is that they employ economists to analyse real estate and the outcome very often is kindergarten analysis.

Here’s a recent example:

According to CoreLogic’s Regional Market Update, property markets outside the capital cities are experiencing a slowdown in value growth because, they say, fewer people are moving from the cities to the regions and because of the elevated interest rate environment.

Regional markets saw dwelling values increase by 1.3% over the three months to July.

CoreLogic economist, Kaytlin Ezzy, said this means the pace of growth has eased from recent peaks.

She noted, however, that growth trends across Australia’s 50 largest regional markets have become increasingly diverse, including 11 regions which saw values rise by more than 3% in the quarter.

So here’s what wrong with that analysis, for want of a better word.

Firstly, they have made the common error of placing great significance on short-term data. The rate of price growth, overall on average across regional Australia, is less than it was a few months earlier, apparently, therefore they say that the market is declining. 

But price graphs are seldom smooth and future months may see a return to higher price rises. It’s always unwise to declare a new trend based on one recent set of short-term figures.

Secondly, they claim internal migration to the regions is no longer happening as strongly as before. The latest Regional Movers Index, jointly published by the Commonwealth Bank and the Regional Australia Institute, strongly disagrees with that statement. It shows that Australians continue to relocate from Sydney and Melbourne to regional areas in large numbers.

Thirdly, the claim that elevated interest rates are causing a decline is farcically stupid. The RBA started lifting the official interest rate in May 2022 and it rose steadily (by a total of four percentage points) until November 2023. So interest rates have been elevated for over two years – and there has been no further rise in the past nine months – but now, according to Core Illogic, elevated interest rates are causing a decline in regional property markets.

And how does that theory sit alongside the reality that, according to Core Illogic, 11 regions recorded a rise of more than 3% in the latest quarter?

They say that “if you torture statistics enough, they’ll tell you anything you want to hear”.

That’s particularly true for economists who subscribe to the theory that everything that happens in residential real estate is caused by interest rate trends, notwithstanding lots of compelling evidence to the contrary.

The truth is that we still have a situation where many of Australia’s strongest property markets for price growth are in the regional areas, headed by boom regional centres like Bunbury, Mandurah and Geraldton in Western Australia, and Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Townsville in Queensland.

Regional Australia continues to provide the best options for investors seeking affordable prices, higher rental yields and good prospects for capital growth, provided you choose your location with care.

Perth is moving into a new phase in its property boom, with more and more buyers opting for units as houses become more and more expensive.

The latest sales data shows that the strongest markets in Perth are well-located locations with a major presence of attached dwellings.

While the most popular house markets for home buyers and investors (mostly those at the affordable end of the market) are a little less buoyant than earlier in the Perth up-cycle, the focus is switching to affordable units.

Perth started this boom with a reputation as the most affordable capital city housing market. After a couple of years of stellar price growth, that’s no longer the case. Perth is now well above Hobart and Darwin with its median house price and challenging Adelaide.

Perth now has a median house price around $800,000, but its median unit price is in the low $500,000s, still well below that of Hobart and Adelaide.

The evaporation of affordability in the Perth housing market can be seen is the rise in values in selected suburbs. Armadale, heavily targeted by investors and FHBs, had a median price of $250,000 three years ago and now it’s approaching $500,000. Seaside Rockingham had a median price below $400,000 at the start of 2021 and now its $630,000. Greater Perth has many similar examples.

When the bargain suburbs have medians above $500,000, the big attraction that caused the stampede starts to fade. So now buyers in Perth, increasingly, are looking at unit markets. While many house markets have been frenzied, with listings selling within days and prices rising by 20% or more a year, the unit markets are less competitive and prices have not yet taken off.

The City of Perth provides a case study. The median unit price for East Perth has risen 6% in the past 12 months while the suburb of Perth has increased 9%. Typical units are priced in the mid-$400,000s. Quarterly sales have been 406 490 599, showing a major lift in buyer demand recently.

In the City of South Perth, unit sales in both Como and South Perth are rising strongly, while in Subiaco quarterly unit sales have been trending higher for the past 12 months – the median unit price is heading towards $600,000, but that’s a third of the price of typical Subiaco houses. There’s a similar pattern in Victoria Park, where the median unit price has risen 11% but remains low at $400,000.

Upmarket Mosman Park provides a startling contrast between its house and unit markets: there have been identical sales numbers in the past year, but the median prices are $2 million for houses and $380,000 for units. Perhaps not surprisingly, sales volumes for units are rising strongly, but prices haven’t moved much as yet.

There are many other examples in the Perth market, which is now following patterns seen in other cities in the trend we call the Rise and Rise of Apartments.

Adelaide’s property market, one of the nation’s strongest in the past two years, has strengthened further recently.

 ales volumes shows that market activity in the June quarter was the highest for Greater Adelaide since mid-2022.

The June Quarter sales levels represented a 25% increase on the March Quarter and were 10% higher than the same time last year.

This is despite the reality that listings of homes for sale across Adelaide are the lowest at any time in the past 15 years, according to SQM Research figures.

This continues Adelaide’s track record as a market with consistently high performance and helps to explain why it has been a challenger to Perth as the market with the highest price growth in the past two years.

Adelaide’s median house price rose 15% in the 12 months to August 2024, while the median unit price increased 12%, according to PropTrack data. 

Only Perth has recorded higher annual price growth.

Across the Greater Adelaide market, suburbs with positive trends with sales activity outnumber those with negative ones by a factor of three to one.

The Greater Adelaide area has standout markets across all price ranges, including affordable municipalities like Playford and Salisbury, middle market areas including Marion and West Torrens, and more upmarket locations such as the Unley, Holdfast Bay and Charles Sturt LGAs.

The Playford LGA, which contains Adelaide’s cheapest suburbs, is the most popular precinct for buyers, with over 800 dwelling sales in the June Quarter. That was 31% higher than the same time last year – and a 53% increase on the March Quarter. 

Most Playford suburbs have positive sales trends, either rising or consistent, with Blakeview and Davoren Park in particular standing out for their consistent buyer demand. The median house price for Blakeview has risen 16% to $550,000 in the past 12 months, while Davoren Park is up 33% to $440,000.

Davoren Park had a median house price of just $175,000 three years ago.

The neighbouring Salisbury LGA, another precinct targeted for its affordable homes, is also a strong performer with sales levels considerably higher than the March Quarter and also the same time in 2023. Rising markets in the City of Salisbury are headed by standout suburbs like Ingle Farm and Mawson Lakes.

The median house price for Ingle Farm was $380,000 three years ago and is now $655,000, after 19% growth in the past 12 months.

Another outer-ring location with outstanding numbers is the Mount Barker LGA, which has recorded the highest quarterly sales numbers in more than three years. The suburbs with strongly rising sales activity include Nairne and Mount Barker. Nairne’s median house price has risen 17% to $750,000 in the past 12 months.

Among the middle market areas, the West Torrens LGA is a notable performer with a significant increase in sales activity in the June Quarter – the highest levels since late in 2021. There are no suburbs with negative trends in West Torrens, while rising markets are headed by Underdale, Torrensville, Plympton and Fulham.

The Port-Adelaide Enfield LGA has numerous suburbs with positive ratings, with sales activity overall much higher in the June Quarter compared to the March Quarter and the same time last year. Notable rising markets include Lightsview and Blair Athol.

The City of Marion has recorded its highest quarterly sales numbers since mid-2022 in a market dominated by suburbs with positive sales trends, including rising suburbs Warradale, Hallett Cove and Edwardstown. The median house price for Hallett Cove has risen from $470,000 to $800,000 in the past four years.

Some of Adelaide’s more upmarket precincts are also travelling well. Ten of the suburbs in the Charles Sturt LGA are ranked as rising markets, headed by Flinders Park, Findon and Bowden.

Sales activity has been rising steadily in the Holdfast Bay municipality in the past four quarters. A standout feature is that the unit markets in both Glenelg and Glenelg North are classified as rising markets in our latest analysis.

The upmarket City of Unley has a particularly strong June Quarter, with sales numbers up almost 50% on the March Quarter. Rising suburbs include Parkside (median house price $1.3 million), Clarence Park ($1.27 million) and Myrtle Bank ($1.6 million).

The overall conclusion is that the Adelaide market continues to pump strongly and is likely to be a national market leader on price growth for the foreseeable future.

One of the greatest misconceptions in the housing market is that property investors are the people who cause property prices to rise.

The evidence confirms that this is a major piece of misinformation but some sections of politics and news media love to perpetuate this fiction.

And, as an extension, use it as justification for advocating the end to negative gearing.

Some people appear to believe that eliminating negative gearing tax benefits will fix all the problems in the property market: rising prices, housing affordability generally, the shortage of new homes, the rental crisis, pretty much everything.

And, like so much of the debate about housing issues, it’s patently false and nothing more than an expression of the politics of envy.

So let’s look at the reality of who has influence in our housing markets and in particular in causing prices to rise over time.

My view over time, supported by the research evidence, is that the largest and most powerful cohort in the residential real estate industry comprises home buyers other than first-home buyers – i.e. owner-occupiers buying their next home, whether up-grading or downsizing.

They are the largest group of buyers numerically, they have the greatest market share and they have the greatest borrowing capacity and ability to pay higher prices than any other group in the market – they’re older, have higher incomes, have equity in their existing homes, they’re aspirational and they have borrowing capacity, far more so than first-home buyers or the average investor.

The latest edition of the NAB Residential Property Survey tends to confirm that view.

The report states that buying activity in the established property market is, and I quote, “dominated by owner-occupiers net of FHBs” – which means home buyers other than first-home buyers.

The NAB report says they comprise 44% of buyers in the Australian housing market and comments: “These buyers account for the lion’s share of established home sales in all states.”

The next biggest buyer cohort is first-home buyers, who comprise 34% of buyers in the market.

Australian investors are just 18% of buyers and foreign investors around 4%.

So the people constantly blamed for prices rising and causing poor housing affordability, Australian property investors, have a market share of just 18%.

More than three-quarters of buyers out there in the market are home-buyers – and they have massive advantages over investor buyers.

They have lower interest rates, they have lower levels of stamp duty, they have lower council rates and lower rates of insurance, and they don’t have to pay land tax or capital gains tax.

If they’re first-home buyers they also receive government grants and other assistance measures, including stamp duty concessions.

The only advantage that property investors can access is negative gearing, which around half of property investors can use to reduce their tax.

The research shows that the typical property investor is young, on an income below $100,000 and restricted on what they can pay by their borrowing capacity, which is less than a home buyer on the same income because the investor has to pay higher interest rates and stamp duty.

What many politicians and journalists want us to believe is that a cohort which is just 18% of the buyers in the market and restricted in their borrowing capacity by numerous factors somehow overpowers the 78% of buyers who are owner-occupiers - and therefore, apparently single-handedly cause house prices to rise.

It simply isn’t so.

The myth of the advantaged and privileged property investor is the greatest lie in real estate.

The trend we call the Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle is among the most powerful forces impacting real estate markets across Australia.

It’s a trend that been around for at least the past 10 years, with more and more residents of the biggest cities relocating to smaller cities or regional areas in search of a different and more affordable lifestyle, empowered by technology which allows many people to work remotely.

It was NOT created by the Covid lockdowns. It was under way long before Covid appeared in 2020 and it continues to have considerable momentum now that we are well beyond the pandemic restrictions.

But media continues to perpetuate the fiction that this was a Covid thing – and to express surprise that, now that we no longer have lockdowns and border restrictions, people are not all moving back to the big cities.

The latest quarterly edition of the Regional Movers Index confirms that this trend is as strong as ever – and it has generated more shock/horror/amazement from journalists who think it was all about the Covid lockdowns.

One article in major media expressed surprise that “Australia is not going back to the pre-pandemic way of life”.

And there’s a very good reason for that: this trend has very little to do with the pandemic.

The Regional Movers Index – which is a collaboration between the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) and the Commonwealth Bank - has once again reported that there are far more people relocating to regional areas than making a move in the opposite direction to major cities, with a 27 per cent difference in the June 2024 Quarter.

What the latest figures confirm, according to RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie, is that “the population movement we’re seeing is a sustained trend”.

Ritchie says: “Regional Australia has become the nation’s new frontier.”

The latest data highlighted a number of specific hotspots that are reaping the benefits of Australia’s romance with the regions.

Lake Macquarie, which sits beside Newcastle in NSW, has emerged as one of Australia’s most popular destinations for movers, securing an almost 5 per cent share of net internal migration over the past year.

Neighbouring local government areas on the NSW south coast such as the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla both experienced strong annual and quarterly surges in movement, according to the report.

Large centres within a few hours’ drive of capitals remain popular with many movers, however the regions that experienced the biggest population changes over the past 12 months were generally further afield, including Townsville (Qld), Mid-West Regional (NSW), Strathbogie (Vic), Murray Bridge (SA), Greater Geraldton (WA) and George Town (Tas).

Approximately three-quarters of the city dwellers who made the move to the regions in the past three months found new homes in either regional NSW or Victoria, confirming that Sydney continues to shed the highest number of residents, followed by Melbourne.

But that’s not to say that Queensland’s appeal has waned entirely, with regional Queensland’s share of net city outflows sitting at 19 per cent, even though it was as high as 41 per cent this time last year.

Indeed, the Sunshine Coast has retained its title as the nation’s most popular destination for relocators, accounting for a 14 per cent share of net internal migration. The Gold Coast has slipped down in the rankings, however, with the city experiencing a net outflow of people to other regional areas.

Western Australia also proved attractive for relocators, with Albany, Bunbury, Busselton, Capel and Northam all seeing an inflow of new residents.

The overall picture is that the trend of people moving from Sydney and Melbourne to regional areas continues strongly, with large numbers of big city dwellers still seeking a different and more affordable lifestyle.