Australians flee cities in record numbers

Net migration to regional areas hits a new record as more people move to WA than away from it for the first time since 2013.

Net migration to regional areas reached a record in the three months to September.

Australians fled the capital cities in ever greater numbers in the three months to September, as net migration to regional areas reached a record 11,250 and more people moved to COVID-free Western Australia than away from it for the first time in seven years.

The health crisis has triggered a shift in internal migration patterns as households have looked to get away from more heavily populated urban areas and apartment living in favour of smaller towns which have largely avoided the pandemic.

Climbing demand for country properties is reflected in booming regional property markets, where house prices have jumped by 7.9 per cent over the year to January, against a 1.7 per cent rise in city home values, according to CoreLogic data.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ internal migration data released on Tuesday also reflected a trend during the pandemic of lower overall interstate migration, with 76,205 Australians making the move in the quarter, 12 per cent lower than the same period in 2019 and the lowest in six years.

While more households stayed put during the pandemic, the ABS data revealed 11,247 more Australians left the capital cities than arrived during the September quarter – a record in data stretching back 19 years. It was an increase from the 10,957 net departures during the three months to June and twice the number from a year earlier.

Perth enjoyed positive interstate migration during the September quarter, as more West Australians chose to stay in their COVID-free state.

It was the first time since 2013 that Western Australia had more people moving into the state than out of it, with net migration of 631 over the three months to September as more West Australians chose to stay in their own state. Similarly, South Australia enjoyed a second consecutive quarter of more Australians moving into the state than out of it – 77 people over the three months to September – after losing residents to other states in every quarter since September 2001, when the ABS began publishing the data.

Many Australians, such as Brent and Cassie Winter, are moving from capital cities to regional areas. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In contrast, the health crisis has reversed a 12-year trend in Victoria, where a further 3749 residents abandoned the state during its second wave of COVID-19 cases, after 3042 left in the June quarter.

The appeal of the Sunshine State, however, has only strengthened. The ABS data showed 7237 decamped from their home states for Queensland in the September quarter – the highest number in 14 years and a third higher than a year earlier. In contrast, NSW lost the most residents to interstate migration at -4100 – an extension of a long standing trend.

Correspondingly, Brisbane gained the most people through net internal migration (3200) during the September quarter, while Sydney lost the most (-7800). Net migration to Perth was 1400.