Rush for wide open spaces as more city people seek a new life in the regions
More city people are seeking a new life in the regions
If you are considering moving from Greater Sydney to the NSW Southern Highlands or from Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula, you are not alone.
In the three months to March, almost 12,000 people fled capital cities for regional Victoria and rural NSW, more than in any quarter since Australian Bureau of Statistics records began 20 years ago.
“We are getting swamped with offers from Sydney. I have taken three calls from Sydney this morning with people bringing forward their plans to move here,” says The Agency’s Ben Olofsen, who is based in the Southern Highlands, south of Sydney.
“People who have thought they would love to live in a regional area are bringing those plans forward due to Covid-19,” he says, adding that the price point most of the fleeing Sydneysiders are looking at is about $2m.
Olofsen says there are no particular favourite areas in the Southern Highlands – the demand is across the board.
“We sold four properties last week sight unseen, just by video tours, ranging from $900,000 to $2.5m and they were all Sydney buyers,” he said. “The fear of missing out is certainly in play and people are bringing forward their long-term plans and cashing in and cashing out of Sydney.”
Olofsen has several private treaty properties on offer including 46A Oxley Drive, Mittagong, which has an asking price of $3m, as well as 6 Harnett Lane, Mittagong, which is on the market for $1.5m.
Another property Olofsen has on offer is a contemporary-style house at 9 Earl St, Bowral, which has four bedrooms and has been developed on more than 7084sq m. It is on the market for $2.15m.
In Victoria, Kay & Burton Portsea and Sorrento director Liz Jensen says the influx of people, particularly families with young children, moving to the Mornington Peninsula has been rampant since the beginning of Melbourne’s lockdown last year.
“It was evident by the middle of June 2020, that we were going to be in the lockdown,” Jensen says. “It started with (city) people saying to me ‘I am sick of this’. This is the icing on the cake. It drove people with the pipeline desire to move, it accelerated their plans.
“It was almost like this was the impetus to create the plan for the future, which was to always move to the southern Mornington Peninsula.”
Jensen says buyers are particularly focused on Portsea, which is the most highly valued suburb in the Mornington Peninsula. It has an entry level of $3m to get a good house, but prices can go all the way up to $50m.
Nearby Sorrento is also popular with an entry level of $3m, while Blairgowrie has an entry level for a reasonable house of $2m.
Jensen is asking $2.75m-$2.95m for 1 The Quarterdeck, Portsea, which she is selling via private treaty.
“What is great about our marketplace is there are all different price levels,” she says.
Further north in the Sunshine State, Ray White Pomona Hinterland principal Phil Hargrave says buyers have been flocking to the Noosa hinterland north of Brisbane due to Covid.
He is marketing 4 Palm Tree Court, Pomona, saying the peaceful lifestyle on offer has been a huge drawcard for buyers looking for a tree-change, adding that it is not too far from the beach.
Hargrave says the owners Deb and Nathan Aleckson and their children are selling the property, which is about 15 minutes from Noosa River and 30 minutes to Noosa Beach, to move to a larger acreage.
