Coronavirus: 25,000 fled Melbourne ahead of second virus wave

Melbourne suffered its largest change in net internal migration on record in the June quarter, according to data released by the ABS.

A man crosses Collins Street in the CBD during COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Melbourne has suffered a record fall in net domestic migration, with 25,000 people leaving the city and thousands of Australians staying away ahead of Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19 infections.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Monday showed a 6595 drop in people moving to Melbourne in the June quarter compared to the same time last year, with significant drops in ­migration from Sydney, regional Victoria, Queensland and Perth.

Between April and June, Melbourne residents left in droves, setting up new bases in regional Victoria, NSW, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

The ABS data revealed capital cities across the country had ­recorded their biggest quarterly net loss from internal migration in history during the pandemic. In the June quarter, 85,500 people moved interstate, which was 14,800 — or 15 per cent — lower than the same period last year.

Queensland gained the most people from net interstate ­migration, up 6800, with Brisbane recording a net gain of 3200.

Victoria registered the largest change in net migration across the country, with 6900 people moving to NSW. The ABS said “more people moved from Victoria to NSW (6900) than from NSW to Victoria (6100) for the first time since the June 1997 quarter”.

Greater Melbourne’s net loss of 8000 people (with 17,060 arrivals and 25,017 departures) was its “largest quarterly net loss on ­record, while Sydney’s net loss (-6000) was its smallest quarterly net loss” since 2016.

 

“There was a net loss of 8000 people for Greater Melbourne in the June 2020 quarter, compared with 2200 in the previous quarter. Melbourne had a net loss of 5900 people to the rest of the state, compared with 3000 in the previous quarter,” the ABS said. “In net terms, Victoria only gained people from Western Australia (+100) and lost most to Queensland (-2100). Victoria had a net loss of people to NSW for the first time since the June 1997 quarter.”

In Greater Sydney, there was a net loss of 6000 people in the June quarter, compared with 8100 in the previous quarter. The ABS said NSW had lost the most people from net interstate migration, with 25,763 residents moving out of the state.

Property markets in regional areas, including northern NSW and southeast Queensland, have boomed during the pandemic, as capital city residents seek new home bases outside of Melbourne and Sydney.

CoreLogic data shows property prices across the capital cities plunging 2.3 per cent between March and October. In contrast, there has been a 1.7 per cent spike across regional areas during the pandemic, with regional NSW surging 3.3 per cent. Melbourne prices were down 5.6 per cent and Sydney’s were down 2.3 per cent.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said the ABS internal migration data was a “temporary publication in response to COVID-19 and the heightened interest in internal migration data”.

“The data has importance for retail and housing businesses and government planners, as well as infrastructure and utility companies,” Mr James said.

The migration figures do not factor in international migration, which has been decimated by COVID-19 border closures.

Last month’s budget predicted Australia would have 72,000 fewer migrant arrivals than departures in the year ending June.