Why Aussies are flocking to these top 25 regions

 

‘Sea change’ and ‘tree change’ were the long-forgotten buzzwords for the migration of people to coastal and lifestyle markets, but the trend appears to be returning.

According to recent data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), regions seeing the greatest increase in migration are coastal towns and lifestyle markets.

This trend was particularly strong before the financial crisis however, since the end of the financial crisis, interstate migration has slowed and most lifestyle markets have underperformed capital city housing markets due to both declining housing demand and a weaker tourism sector.

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But while previously retirees led the trend, new data suggests that families are instead leading the latest increase, a recent Corelogic RP Data report said.

Of the top 25 Aussie regions for internal migration, 14 are the outer fringe regions of the capital cities where population growth is being driven by new housing.

The Melbourne-West region has seen the greatest level of internal migration over 2014-15 with 5,038 internal migrants.

This region is seeing substantial levels of new housing development, much of which is at affordable prices, which is clearly attracting people to the region.

Estimated net internal migration by regions 2008-09 vs 2014-15 (% of total migration)

Source: CoreLogic RP Data

15 of the top 25 regions would be considered lifestyle regions, including Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Geelong, Richmond-Tweed, Mornington Peninsula, Mid North Coast, Central Coast, Hunter Valley exc Newcastle, Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, Bunbury, Mandurah, Sydney-Outer West and Blue Mountains, Illawarra, Wide Bay and Latrobe-Gippsland.

Migration in each of these regions is being fuelled by those aged 0-14 years and between 25 and 64 years.

 

Meanwhile migration of 15-24 year olds is low and often falling and migration of those over 65 years of age is not as strong as younger children and those of working age.

This would seemingly indicate that migration within these coastal and lifestyle markets is being driven by young families.

Coastal and lifestyle markets have generally dramatically underperformed in terms of value growth relative to capital cities over recent years while more recently we are starting to see value rise in many of these regions.

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This would seemingly support this data given increased demand for housing (with migration as a source) often leads to increases in home values, Corelogic RP Data said.

The recent increases in home values in capital cities, which has resulted in deteriorating affordability, has forced many younger families out of capital cities – another key factor boosting migration of lifestyle markets.

Many Australian workplaces are also becoming more flexible meaning that people can work from home or commute to the office only a few times a week – undoubtedly also making the move to a lifestyle market more appealing.