New research has exposed a declining trend among Aussie residents, with fewer people moving from regional areas to big cities. Instead, the opposite is becoming more common — Aussie families ditching the hustle and bustle in favour of a “slower” lifestyle.
Since 2023, the number of movers from regional areas to capital cities has dropped by 18 per cent, according to the latest Regional Movers Index [RMI] report. The report also revealed the top locations for those leaving the cities, with southeast Queensland once again the most favoured spot.
Family who left Sydney for Gold Coast ‘wish we did it sooner’
MJ Whyte and her husband had lived in Sydney their whole lives when they made the decision to move to Queensland in March last year.
“We wanted a slower lifestyle, just a more balanced way of living,” MJ told Yahoo News.
“We both work full time. Sydney gave us a lot of that and it’s where we grew up, but the pace of life was just too busy for us and life always felt very chaotic.”
After exploring the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, the family felt the latter was “just right”, and they began researching the move.
With three kids under 10, MJ put the kids on school waitlists a year before they left their home on the Northern Beaches.
She said for those thinking about a sea change, stop waiting for the ‘perfect’ time to make it happen.
“There’s never a right time,” she said.
“It’s such a big decision — you’re not just leaving a place, you’re leaving your family, your friends, your connections… it’s scary doing that.
“But you just have to go with it and just do it.”
While she was initially reluctant to leave her family and friends behind in Sydney, MJ now wishes that she made the move sooner.
Along with the warmer weather, she said one of the biggest improvements is the traffic — her husband’s three-hour roundtrip commute to work every day is now down to just 15 minutes.
“We don’t look back, we love it here. I wish we did it sooner,” she said.
As well as identifying the most popular spots for Aussies to relocate to, the RMI report also identified the towns that are growing the fastest.
The top five suburbs with the biggest annual growth were all from the cooler southern states of Victoria and Tasmania.
“We are seeing interesting moves in the southern states with Victoria’s Wodonga seeing the strongest annual net migration growth, while three Tassie spots – Latrobe, Devonport and Huon Valley – ranked second to fourth,” Regional Australia Institute (RAI) CEO Liz Ritchie said.
“Grouped together, these areas saw a five-fold increase in net migration over 12 months.”
The RMI is a partnership between the RAI and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Most popular towns for Aussie migrationAussie towns with biggest annual growth in net internal migration
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