Bush Summit 2023: Melbourne growing pains feed exodus to regions
Growing pains in Melbourne’s outer suburbs are feeding the regional Victorian population boom. See the towns with the most resilient property markets.
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Growing pains in Melbourne’s outer suburbs are feeding the regional Victorian population boom as people seek bigger homes and better family lifestyles.
Greater Geelong, Moorabool and Baw Baw were among the biggest destinations for people leaving the city, Regional Australia Institute research shows.
The June quarter Regional Movers Index showed the exodus from Melbourne had eased from the Covid peak, but there remained a strong pull for people to make a move.
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Werribee-based City of Wyndham, which is Melbourne’s biggest growth zone, provided the biggest share of people moving toward Geelong.
It was similar at the Moorabool Shire, surrounding Bacchus Marsh, where 40 per cent of people shifting had left neighbouring Melton.
Other areas to see significant shifts included Ballarat, Bendigo and Bass Coast.
New Lara resident Braith Morrow said his family turned their back on Point Cook a decade after buying his first home in the suburb.
Infrastructure wasn’t keeping pace with Point Cook’s population, with local crime and tightly-packed estates leading the young family to look elsewhere, Mr Morrow said.
“We just happened to find what was almost a perfect house for us on a block that was 810sq m. We can have plenty of space for the kids to go out and kick a ball, where (in Point Cook) I had 3m off the back of the house to the rear fence,” he said.
“The house we have here has got a big backyard, we’ve got a pool, we’ve got plenty of space.”
The country lifestyle is a clear difference, with more community-led festivities, while locals were looking out for each other on a Lara residents Facebook page.
“It just seems there’s a higher sense of old fashioned kind of values coming to the fore,” he said.
Ray White, Bacchus Marsh director Belinda Lewin said bigger homes, more space and better education opportunities were driving people to Bacchus Marsh.
“There’s a lot of families moving to Bacchus Marsh. There’s more choices obviously with the Grammar School, but just more yard, bigger homes,” Mr Lewin said.
“We’ve still got a bit of a country feel. Obviously it is growing, but you can still get a decent home for a decent dollar.”
First-home buyers could snap up a home for around $600,000, while bigger homes, from 700sq m up to acre blocks could go for between $800,000 and $900,000, she said.
“People are wanting more land. Many work from home now, so they can have the vegie garden and their chickens and jump on the train a couple of times a week.”
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The flow of people into the regions has bolstered house prices in some far-flung places.
Geelong suburb of Manifold Heights was ranked the most resilient according to PropTrack data, as the median house price climbed 172 per cent to $1.232m in 10 years, including a 26.4 per cent rise since interest rates began to rise.
Prices were also buoyant at San Remo where the $1.14m median price rose 24 per cent since last April as seven of the 20 most resilient towns were in Gippsland, from Morwell (up 126 per cent in 10 years), to Orbost, where the $340,000 median price has climbed 31 per cent since April, 2022.
Towns such as Beechworth, Heathcote and Maldon were among the strong performers, along with Stawell and Nhill, with median price of just $216,500 in western Victoria.
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Originally published as Bush Summit 2023: Melbourne growing pains feed exodus to regions
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