City dwellers are increasingly abandoning capitals for affordable regional alternatives with Sydney accounting for the nation’s greatest capital city outflow, according to a new report.
Commonwealth Bank Australia and the Regional Australia Institute latest Regional Movers Index (RMI) tracks Aussies’ regional relocations, revealing those lying beyond the commuter belt are surging in popularity.
Sydney and Melbourne account for more than 90 per cent of all capital city outflows to the regions with Sydneysiders dominating migration accounting for 54 per cent of net capital outflows. While Melburnians made up 38 per cent.
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Source: Commonwealth Bank and Regional Australia Institute
Despite December traditionally being a softer relocation period, the seasonal drop in capital-to-region migration this year was smaller than the previous two December quarters, underscoring a continued momentum toward regional living.
It was the second highest capital to regional migration since the end of the pandemic in 2022 and outpaced movement in the opposite direction (regional-to-capitals) by 31 per cent.
Capital-to-regional migration accounted for 11.6 per cent of all relocations between local government areas across Australia.
The report revealed NSW migration spread across broader destinations, with movers looking beyond traditional hotspots and into both inland and coastal regional centres.
Albury continued to perform strongly, supported by its proximity to both Sydney and Melbourne, solid employment opportunities and significant public and private investment.
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Albury is one of the top regional relocation locations in NSW
“Albury for us was second on the top five list for annual growth up 150.5 per cent year on year and people are continuing to flock there because it’s well serviced with hospitals and higher education and it offers that local community lifestyle,” Executive General Manager of Regional and Agribusiness Banking at CBA Kylie Allen said
“It’s equally not far from Melbourne or Sydney and it has summer water sports by the Murray River and winter in the ski fields.
“Albury also benefits from that large scale public and private investment.”
Ms Allen said Lismore equally saw strong annual growth of people moving from other regions.
“It’s a Northern Rivers hub for health, education and professional services and growth is supported by key infrastructure projects such as Lismore hospital upgrade, part of the upgrade is increased housing for healthcare workers, which further supports that growing population in that area,” she said.
Lismore ranks among the Top Five LGAs by annual growth in total net internal migration inflows. Source: Commonwealth Bank and Regional Australia Institute
“Our local bankers are actually telling us that Lismore and the surrounding LGAs are seen as a more affordable alternative to coastal areas such as Ballina and Byron Bay.
“The area is attracting retirees, younger families and skilled workers given its proximity to the major coastal towns.”
Ms Allen said there is an increasing number of development approvals for housing in the area driven by demand for housing stock.
According to Ms Allen, migration patterns are broadening due to opportunities around housing affordability, supply and lifestyle in regional locations across the nation.
“What we are seeing now is that broadening into other further afield areas in regional Australia, but still for the same intent, they’re still looking for lifestyle, housing affordability and housing supply,” she said.
“The report is showing us that Australians continue to choose regional living and moves from capital cities to the regions are still outpacing those moves in the opposite direction.”
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