Regional Queensland areas the location Australians are moving to

Australians are choosing to move further inland into regional areas with many Queensland locations topping the charts due to affordability, a new study has revealed.

Australians are choosing to move further inland into regional areas with many Queensland locations topping the charts, a new study has revealed.

The December quarter Regional Movers index from the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) showed there was high migration into regional Queensland.

Cairns has proven a strong choice for migrants.

Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Greater Geelong, Fraser Coast and Bundaberg were in the top five popular destinations in terms of share of total net internal migration from regional and capital areas.

“For Fraser Coast, it’s taking 4.4 per cent of national share meaning 1 in 25 people are moving to the Fraser Coast,” Commonwealth Bank Regional and Agribusiness Executive General Manager Paul Fowler said.

“Half of that is coming from capitals and the other half is regional.”

“Queensland is top of the pops in terms of where Australians are choosing to move to when they do move to the regions.

Mr Fowler said people were looking to move to a more affordable environment.

When asked why people were moving to these areas he said, “our view would be the regional job markets have never been stronger”.

“Our underlying regional economy is really strong.”

RAI Chief Economist Dr Kim Houghton said people were moving further inland based on cost.

“The places that first saw significant trends were on the coast and as those place became a bit more expensive, it has brought a population change to those more affordable places,” he said.

Some places in particular like Bundaberg pride itself on the affordable lifestyle.

Regional Australia Institute chief economist Dr Kim Houghton.

Bundaberg Regional Council mayor Jack Dempsey said he found expats returning to Australia were choosing Bundaberg which ticked all the boxes.

“We are still low cost compared to other areas in Australia,” he said.

“We have offered significant cost reductions for infrastructure over years.”

Fraser Coast Council mayor George Seymour said the migration influx was adding to business confidence.

“I’ve never seen the Fraser busier in terms of people moving here, new businesses opening, we are growing very quickly at the moment,” he said.

But with the growth in people, comes many challenges for the region.

“There are challenges that come with this growth and housing affordability is a key issue,” he said.

“The housing market has gone forward quite a lot, in terms of prices, it is a real concern for me about getting young people into the housing market.

Cairns Chamber of Commerce CEO Patricia O'Neill. Picture: Brendan Radke

Other places recording growth in net migration from capital cities include Cairns which had a 179 per cent increase and Gladstone had a 336 per cent increase. Cairns is also facing a housing crisis.

Cairns Chamber of Commerce chief executive Patricia O’Neill said she found lots of people were using Cairns as their base after Covid and working from home.

“That impacted upon housing, it amplified the housing shortages because we don’t have the housing infrastructure in place to coincide with increase of demand,” she said.

But the increase in migration was definitely a positive.

“We are noticing a massive influx,” Ms O’Neill said.

“An increase in population is an increase in retail sales, people are moving here, they’ll buy bedding, groceries, all the economic impact of migration whether it be interstate or intrastate.”

Ms O’Neill said