PRD Real Estate chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said that despite the return to CBD offices, it had never been a better time to move to regional Australia.
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The tree-change wave over the past few years had sparked the opening of new cafes and restaurants and prompted local areas to tidy up infrastructure and improve roads, she said.
“The new regional Australia has quite a capital city feel,” she said. “And it’s still more affordable than Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.”
She said the unemployment rate in many tree-change hotspots was low and city leavers could find local jobs. Although the pay might not be as high as in the city, the cost of living would be lower too – and property prices were likely to rise over time.
“We’re still going to see price growth, that’s not in question, because we are undersupplied, regardless of whether it’s a commuter town or a fully moving [further afield] town,” Mardiasmo said.
“Many people are starting to go, capital cities are great, but they want to experience something different.”
Melbourne had an exodus of tree-changers during the pandemic as remote workers sought more space and looser health restrictions, although the days of real estate agents fielding offers sight unseen for their listings have come to an end.
But Ray White Inverloch selling agent Michael Trigg-Chizzoniti said sea changes were still popular among Melburnians, with a wide range of buyers from young families to retirees attracted to the South Gippsland coastal area and the Bass Coast.
Trigg-Chizzoniti said while Inverloch had its fair share of multimillion-dollar properties, the town and neighbouring areas like Venus Bay offered a more affordable beachside alternative to average buyers than other popular seaside destinations.
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“Inverloch was always kind of on the map, but I think when we went through COVID it forced people to explore their own backyard a little bit more. [Buyers realised that] we don’t have to go to the Great Ocean Road or the Mornington Peninsula, because there are actually other options when you go past Phillip Island,” he said.
“If you really want to be in a ‘sea change’ suburb that will be under $750,000, there are definitely options [on the Bass Coast].”
Trigg-Chizzoniti said Inverloch’s beach lifestyle paired with new infrastructure in the area was a major drawcard for buyers.
Further west, James Aiken of Great Ocean Properties in Apollo Bay said house prices had boomed in the area from 2019 but had since stabilised.
For a few years, almost all his sales were above $800,000. Now there are a few below, but he doubts it will last. Many Apollo Bay holiday home buyers have budgets of $1 million.
Aiken has one listing in Apollo Bay itself asking $695,000 to $725,000 but suggests buyers would find more options on bigger blocks of land if they drove 45 minutes inland to towns such as Lavers Hill, Beech Forest or Barramunga.
“A lot of people who want to move down in regional places don’t want to live on a 500-square-metre block in town,” he said. “You could probably get five or six acres and a house for less than $600,000.”
He said buyers were looking for holiday houses and were attracted to the nature, community feel, three-minute commute to work and safe environment.
“It’s a less hectic way of life,” he said. “We all seem to be happier.”