CITY dwellers are continuing to escape the rat race and move to regional areas, with Lake Macquarie being one of the most popular areas to relocate to.
According to the September 2023 quarter Regional Movers Index (RMI), Lake Macquarie ranked among the most attractive places for capital-city people on the move.
The region was named in the top five LGAs with the largest new inflows from capital cities over the last quarter, placing in fourth position with a share of 5.4 per cent behind Sunshine Coast (13 per cent), Gold Coast (9.2 per cent), Moorabool in Victoria (5.7 per cent) and one spot ahead of Greater Geelong (5.1 per cent).
Lake Macquarie recorded a 725 per cent quarterly growth rate.
Belmont-based selling agent Louise Vico from Viking Realty said she had noticed an increase in buyers from Sydney snapping up property in Lake Macquarie.
She said Sydneysiders accounted for 70 per cent of her last 10 sales.
"Affordability, lifestyle and the fact they can get a great house and be close to the lake or the beach is a massive driving force for Sydney buyers," Ms Vico said.
"In the last four months I have noticed them back here in abundance and it's all types of buyers - investors, first-home buyers, families with young kids, retirees and professional couples.
"It is across the board."
Overall, regional NSW overtook regional Queensland as being the most desirable location for metropolitan movers, according to the index.
The report showed 39 per cent of people moving from cities, in net terms, headed to regional NSW in the 12 months to September 2023, up from 26 per cent in the previous 12-month period.
Regional Australia Institute CEO Liz Ritchie said the data showed Australia continued to have a highly mobile population, with the overall number of movers this quarter at its third highest level since March 2018.
"RMI data is repeatedly showing the exodus of people from capital cities wasn't a short-lived phenomenon due to pandemic lockdowns, with capital to regional migration levels currently 11.7 per cent above the pre-Covid [2018 and 2019] average," Ms Ritchie said.
Sydneysiders were leading the charge when it came to regional relocations.
"When you look at all the people who left cities for the regions in the last year, 80 per cent of them came from Sydney," she said.
"In the 12 months to September 2022, it was just over 60 per cent. It suggests that the bigger our cities get, the stronger the draw to our wonderful regions becomes."
Meanwhile, Maitland emerged as one of the top five LGAs for people moving from other regional areas with a 4.8 per cent share over the last quarter behind Sunshine Coast (6.6 per cent); Greater Geelong (5.9 per cent) and Toowoomba and Fraser Coast (booth 5.4 per cent).
Maitland recorded the strongest quarterly growth of 276.9 per cent, while on an annual basis it came in at 33.4 per cent.
It's the first time Maitland has earned a place in the top five since late-2022.
River Realty selling agent Chad Buckley said that around one in five of his sales in the Maitland LGA came from out-of-area buyers.
"Maitland historically has been an area that has increased infrastructure levels, so you get a lot of people moving from further west into the Maitland LGA to access those," Mr Buckley said.
"A lot of downsizers have moved from larger rural properties out west into the area and, to be honest, I have seen an increase with younger people who are looking for somewhere that provides more opportunity without having to move to the city."
The Regional Movers Index is a partnership between Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the Regional Australia Institute, which analyses the quarterly and annual trends in people moving to and from Australia's regional areas.
The index was established at the height of the pandemic to track the movements of capital city people to the regions.
