Around 40 percent of city-dwellers are now thinking about moving to regional Australia but housing stocks are failing to keep pace with the skyrocketing demand, a new report has warned.
According to the new research, commissioned by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) and released today, the number of Australians planning to relocate outside the major cities represented a doubling from 20 percent 18 months ago.
RAI CEO Liz Ritchie said Australia was experiencing “a once-in-a-lifetime population shift” and alarm bells should be ringing about how the regions were tracking in terms of key metrics including housing, education and migration.
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“Demand for regional living has never been higher, but as a nation we are not keeping pace with delivering the fundamental building blocks that are needed as we rebalance the nation,” Ritchie said.
Rental vacancy rates have continued to tighten in regional Australia as housing demand surges. In 2024, the regional rental vacancy rate was down to 1.3 percent from 1.5 percent in 2023.
Regional building approvals also plummeted 9.4 percent between May 2023 and May 2024, the report showed.
“Many regions are already struggling with housing, particularly rental markets, and until region-specific policy measures are put in place, this will only be further magnified,” Ritchie said.
Advance Cairns CEO Jacinta Reddan said the population of Far North Queensland had grown by 5.2 percent over five years, and was so far surpassing current government projections.
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“In the past year alone, growth in the Cairns region accelerated to 1.8 percent. If this trend continues, we could see the region grow to more than 280,000 residents by 2026,” Reddan said.
The population explosion is putting a huge amount of pressure on the local rental property market, she said.
“In Cairns, the rental market remains tight – over the past 50 months since July 2020, 40 of those months recorded a vacancy rate of no higher than 1.0 percent.”
“The housing demand from new residents, coupled with ongoing regional development needs, requires swift action from policymakers to ensure that Far North Queensland has the resources and infrastructure to accommodate this population shift.”
The regions were also falling behind when it came to important measures for education, Ritchie said.
The regional student school attainment rate dropped from 71.4 percent in 2021 to 67.3 percent in 2022, the report found.
Regional students are also falling behind on NAPLAN outcomes, with more than half of remote students needing additional support.
A decline in the number of overseas migrants settling in regional areas is also troubling, Ritchie said. Regional employers were crying out for workers, with 76,000 jobs currently available across regional Australia, she added.
“We know migrants can help fill these roles. However, fewer overseas arrivals are ending up in our regional communities and that needs to change,” Ritchie said.
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