Young families quit Sydney for cheaper homes in Qld

More than 41,000 young Sydneysiders have fled the Harbour City for cheaper regional housing, as the median house price hits a staggering $1.7m.

More and more young Sydneysiders are calling South East Queensland home. Picture: Brisbane City Council

• Editor’s view: This is our moment

Thousands of Sydney’s youngest and brightest people are leaving the city for Brisbane and the Gold Coast in search of affordable housing.

Data crunched by audit giant KPMG shows that young Sydneysiders are heading to regional areas in NSW or parts of Queensland in droves.

KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said more than 41,000 people left the Harbour City in search of cheaper housing last year.

“Sydney remains right up there as one of the world’s most expensive cities, with the median house price now at a new record high of $1.7m,” he said.

“This unenviable title has meant it’s not surprising more than 40,000 residents left the city in the last year in search for more affordable options to raise a family and get ahead.”

Mr Rawnsley said the biggest group leaving Sydney were aged 25-44 – parents also taking children aged up to 14.

Brisbane remained the most popular destination for Sydneysiders, with more than 5000 people heading north, but the number dropped as more people moved to regional areas.

Tom Forrest, chief executive of the Urban Taskforce, said the latest data of interstate and intra-state migration confirms the cost of housing was driving young people out of Sydney.

“For a long time, we joked that people head to Queensland to retire, but now our young school leavers and university graduates are heading north … to get a job and find a house they can afford,” he said.

“The loss of our most productive young to the regions and interstate renders Sydney a potential retirement village.”

Originally published as Young families quit Sydney for cheaper homes in Qld