Melburnians moving to the country help regional property boom

City folk are continuing to make the move to the country. See which areas they’re choosing and how it’s affecting the property market.

Regional areas continue to attract people from metro areas, according to recent data.

Regional Australia is in the midst of an internal migration boom, with new data showing metropolitan residents continue to flee the confines of city life for country living.

But the influx of people scrambling to buy property has seen potential buyers turning towards alternative real estate options, such as land lease schemes.

The latest data from the Regional Australia Institute and Commonwealth Bank showed the number of people moving from capital cities to regional areas has continued its upwards trend, rising another two per cent in the September quarter, and three per cent on the year prior.

Wellington shire in West Gippsland recorded a 25 per cent increase in migration activity, with Baw Baw growing 18 per cent, Surf Coast shire 57 per cent, and Bass Cost 23 per cent.

Melburnians relocating to regional areas and coastal towns in the year to September 30 accounted for nearly 50 per cent of all capital city migrations.

RAI chief executive Liz Richie said regional net migration lifted 14 per cent in the September quarter.

“Sydney was in lockdown for the entire September quarter and Melbourne for two-thirds of it and still we see an increase in the overall number of people choosing a regional lifestyle,” Ms Ritchie said.

Elders Bendigo real estate agent Martin Skahill said there was “no doubt” regional Victoria was experiencing a property boom.

“I believe prices have gone up about 25 per cent in about 18 months across all suburbs in Bendigo,” Mr Skahill said.

Many buyers entering the market were local buyers, with a strong Melbourne presence wishing to enter the regional property market, Mr Skahill said.

“We’ve got our own social structure, our own population, there are young ones coming through and wanting to buy their first home,” Mr Skahill said.

“There’s probably not too many people looking to move interstate too, and that’s probably swelling out numbers here. There’s definitely an imbalance of the number of people wanting to buy verses wanting to sell.”

Vital Communities director acquisitions and planning Rob Evans said land lease options aimed at retirees, pre-retirees and re-locators could be an affordable way of accessing property in regional areas.

“A negative with the boom is that housing and land are less accessible and more expensive, which means less options for people around where and how they might live in the future,” Mr Evans said.

“In the land lease community model, the resident buys the house and leases the land the house sits on to save money. While they don’t own the land, residents still get capital appreciation on their home.”