Well, Sydney you’ve taken the crown again. What for this time? We’re the Australian capital city with the highest number of people who’ve moved regional. Womp womp. Yep, between city slickers seeking out sea changes or tree changes, and Sydney being the second most unaffordable city in the world to buy – let alone rent – in, many have voted with their feet. Of all Australians moving regional, 67 per cent come from Sydney.
So where are they going? According to the most recent edition of the Regional Movers Index by the Regional Australia Institute and Commonwealth Bank, a lot of Sydney residents are staying here in NSW. They’re opting for neighbouring little sister localities, Newcastle and Wollongong, which are even close enough to Sydney for a daily commute to work or spur-of-the-moment city staycation.
Those Sydneysiders who have decided to leave NSW have tended to chase the warmer weather in the Sunshine State – in fact, the Gold Coast beat out Wollongong and Newcastle for the place that most Sydney residents are relocating to.
While chasing peace and quiet may have begun as a pandemic trend, the lifestyle move shows no signs of slowing down. "That key age demographic, 30- to 40-year-olds, have been leaving [Sydney] at twice the rate they've been arriving over the last few years," said NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully.
If you are a Sydneysider looking for somewhere affordable – well, perhaps not affordable, but less exy – here are the cheapest suburbs to rent in Greater Sydney, and places where rent has dropped. And these are the cheapest suburbs within 10km of Sydney's CBD to buy in.
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