Hidden Hotspots Fueling Australia’s Housing Market Growth
Hotspotting
Think Sydney and Melbourne lead the property market? Think again. In this episode, we reveal the surprising frontrunners from the Winter edition of The Price Predictor Index — and it’s the smaller capitals and regional markets stealing the spotlight. 📍 Darwin tops the list as Australia's hottest market 📈 Hobart is making a powerful comeback 🏡 Regional South Australia and Regional Victoria are quietly outperforming 📉 Meanwhile, Sydney is now the weakest market nationwide We dig into why these shifts are happening, what’s driving demand in unexpected places, and where...
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Why Darwin Is Now the Hottest Property Market in Australia
Hotspotting
What’s really happening in Australia’s property markets? In this episode, we break down the new Winter edition of the Price Predictor Index — and the results are anything but expected. 🏆 Darwin has skyrocketed to become the hottest market in the country, with sales activity going ballistic. 📈 Hobart is making a strong comeback after a quiet spell. 📉 And Sydney? It's the only capital we’ve labelled a Loser this quarter. We reveal the cities and regions where buyer demand is surging — and where it's slipping — plus the Top 50 Supercharged Suburbs that are primed for growth....
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What’s Really Stopping Homeowners from Downsizing or Upgrading?
Hotspotting
Why Moving House Costs More Than You Think Thinking of moving home? It’s not just about finding the right property anymore — the real hurdle is the staggering cost of moving. In cities like Sydney and Melbourne, transaction costs for selling, buying, and relocating now average over $100,000. For many, this financial burden is a major reason they stay put, even when their current home no longer suits their needs. The biggest single cost? Stamp duty — a tax often called the silent killer of housing mobility. Why is this outdated tax still strangling the market, and how could reform unlock...
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Behind the Curtain of Affordable Housing Promises
Hotspotting
Affordable Housing: The Great Political Mirage Politicians love to promise “affordable housing” — but where are the numbers? Behind the headlines and media events, affordable homes remain an elusive dream, buried under soaring land prices, construction costs, and government taxes. From Brisbane’s zoning reforms to Sydney’s grand plans, we unpack why these announcements often fall short of reality. Why is genuine affordability missing from the conversation? And what’s really stopping new homes from becoming truly affordable? Tune in as we cut through the spin and reveal the hard...
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Factors Behind Rising Property Prices
Hotspotting
Is Australia really heading into the “grandaddy of all property booms” just because of a couple of interest rate cuts? If you believe the headlines, that’s exactly what’s happening. But here’s the problem: those headlines are mostly rubbish. In this episode, we cut through the media hype and take a hard look at what’s really driving property prices – and it’s not interest rates. From shallow journalism to economist echo chambers, we expose the flawed logic behind the property boom narrative and explain why it doesn’t stack up against real data or historical precedent. Join us...
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From Wall Street to Toorak: Luxury Real Estate with Nicholas Brooks | Marshall White Stonnington
Hotspotting
How does someone go from trading commodities in New York City to selling some of Melbourne’s most luxurious homes? In this episode of The Property Playbook, host Tim Graham sits down with Nicholas Brooks, Director of Marshall White Stonnington, to explore his unique journey into real estate and what it takes to thrive in the top end of Melbourne’s property market. 🔑 What you'll learn in this episode: Nick’s transition from finance in New York to high-end real estate in Melbourne What makes Stonnington one of Melbourne’s most desirable property regions The current trends in...
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Australia’s Fastest Growing Cities and What It Means for Property
Hotspotting
Australia is one of the most urbanised nations on earth, but how is its population growth reshaping the map? New data from .id reveals surprising trends across the country’s fifty largest cities and towns. Some regional centres are surging ahead while others are slipping behind. The Sunshine Coast has quietly become the fastest growing city in the nation, just ahead of Perth. Geelong, Ballarat and Hervey Bay are rising fast, while places like Whyalla tell a very different story. Melbourne has overtaken Sydney again, and a small but booming area in Lake Macquarie has broken into the top fifty...
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The High Yield Towns We DON’T Recommend - 20 No-Go Zones With The Allure of High Rental Returns
Hotspotting
What do some of the highest rental yields in Australia have in common with some of the biggest property busts? In this episode, we explore the darker side of high yield towns and why some locations that promise strong returns can become financial traps. From Moranbah to Port Hedland, the history of boom and bust in resource-driven towns is littered with painful lessons. Why are some towns offering yields above 12 percent while their property values plummet? What really lies beneath the glossy headlines and impressive statistics? And why are so many of these markets cheap for a reason? This...
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The Hidden Costs Driving Up Australian House Prices
Hotspotting
Why does it now cost nearly a million dollars to build a basic home in Australia? The latest NAB Residential Property Survey reveals some uncomfortable truths. Construction costs are soaring, government taxes and delays are adding layers of expense, and productivity in the building sector has fallen dramatically over the past 30 years. Yet investors are still being blamed for rising prices, even though they make up just a quarter of buyers. So what is really driving the housing crisis? If you want to understand the forces shaping property prices, affordability and supply across the country,...
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The Election Is Over but Housing Policy Is Still a Mess
Hotspotting
🎙️ Why the Election Won’t Fix the Housing Crisis Australia has voted — but will the Federal Election result change anything for the housing crisis? For real estate consumers, the answer is... probably not. In this episode, we cut through the political noise and unpack what the election outcome really means for home buyers, investors, renters, and the property industry. While the re-election of the Albanese Government may provide short-term relief for homeowners, it offers little hope for renters or first-home buyers — because, quite simply, the government still doesn’t understand...
info_outlineThe trend we call the Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle is among the most powerful forces impacting real estate markets across Australia.
It’s a trend that been around for at least the past 10 years, with more and more residents of the biggest cities relocating to smaller cities or regional areas in search of a different and more affordable lifestyle, empowered by technology which allows many people to work remotely.
It was NOT created by the Covid lockdowns. It was under way long before Covid appeared in 2020 and it continues to have considerable momentum now that we are well beyond the pandemic restrictions.
But media continues to perpetuate the fiction that this was a Covid thing – and to express surprise that, now that we no longer have lockdowns and border restrictions, people are not all moving back to the big cities.
The latest quarterly edition of the Regional Movers Index confirms that this trend is as strong as ever – and it has generated more shock/horror/amazement from journalists who think it was all about the Covid lockdowns.
One article in major media expressed surprise that “Australia is not going back to the pre-pandemic way of life”.
And there’s a very good reason for that: this trend has very little to do with the pandemic.
The Regional Movers Index – which is a collaboration between the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) and the Commonwealth Bank - has once again reported that there are far more people relocating to regional areas than making a move in the opposite direction to major cities, with a 27 per cent difference in the June 2024 Quarter.
What the latest figures confirm, according to RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie, is that “the population movement we’re seeing is a sustained trend”.
Ritchie says: “Regional Australia has become the nation’s new frontier.”
The latest data highlighted a number of specific hotspots that are reaping the benefits of Australia’s romance with the regions.
Lake Macquarie, which sits beside Newcastle in NSW, has emerged as one of Australia’s most popular destinations for movers, securing an almost 5 per cent share of net internal migration over the past year.
Neighbouring local government areas on the NSW south coast such as the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla both experienced strong annual and quarterly surges in movement, according to the report.
Large centres within a few hours’ drive of capitals remain popular with many movers, however the regions that experienced the biggest population changes over the past 12 months were generally further afield, including Townsville (Qld), Mid-West Regional (NSW), Strathbogie (Vic), Murray Bridge (SA), Greater Geraldton (WA) and George Town (Tas).
Approximately three-quarters of the city dwellers who made the move to the regions in the past three months found new homes in either regional NSW or Victoria, confirming that Sydney continues to shed the highest number of residents, followed by Melbourne.
But that’s not to say that Queensland’s appeal has waned entirely, with regional Queensland’s share of net city outflows sitting at 19 per cent, even though it was as high as 41 per cent this time last year.
Indeed, the Sunshine Coast has retained its title as the nation’s most popular destination for relocators, accounting for a 14 per cent share of net internal migration. The Gold Coast has slipped down in the rankings, however, with the city experiencing a net outflow of people to other regional areas.
Western Australia also proved attractive for relocators, with Albany, Bunbury, Busselton, Capel and Northam all seeing an inflow of new residents.
The overall picture is that the trend of people moving from Sydney and Melbourne to regional areas continues strongly, with large numbers of big city dwellers still seeking a different and more affordable lifestyle.