The RAI’s latest survey in conjunction with the Commonwealth Bank, showed regional Queensland accounted for about 41 per cent of net capital outflows in the 12 months to June. That is up from 33 per cent last year.

The results coincide with a warning from the State Government that Queensland’s population would reach six million by 2046.

It said the number of one-person households would increase substantially from 23.4 per cent in 2021 to 40.5 per cent in 2046 and this would mean the state needed more smaller homes in the mix, to deliver more housing options.

However, the RAI figures show the June quarter saw the traditional shift of people from regional towns to cities re-establish and was slightly above pre-Covid levels.

RAI chief executive Lis Ritchie said the pull of the regions was growing and people saw country communities as offering a happier, cheaper and better quality of life.

“In 2020, 67 per cent of people thought regional living would give them more time for themselves. In 2023, this has jumped to 74 per cent,” Ritchie said.

Dissatisfaction with city had also increased on the back of cost-of-living pressures. There had also been 87,000 jobs advertised in regional Australia in June.

Regional Western Australia was a solid performer in the June quarter which aligns with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing that the state has taken over from Queensland as the growth centre.

In Greater Geraldton, net internal migration were up 395 per cent.

The Commonwealth Bank’s executive general manager for regional and agriculture banking Paul Fowler said it expected regional areas to continue to attract city movers as commercial businesses in core sectors and agribusinesses alike step up their push for workers.

He said while there had been a seasonal dip in the number of people moving to regional areas, it was still high compared with pre-pandemic levels.

The top areas by share of net capital to regional migration were the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Greater Geelong (Victoria) and Lake Macquarie (NSW). All of the inflow to the Gold Coast was from other cities while the Sunshine Coast had a component from other regional areas.

Brisbane remains the biggest source of people moving to the Sunshine Coast.

The Fraser Coast was also popular ranking fourth in the top five local government areas by share of net internal migration.

The overall number of people moving was much higher than pre-COVID levels – with the number of movers at its fourth highest level since March 2018.

The share of those moving from the cities to the regions has stepped down from the heights reported during COVID to account for an 11.1 per cent share of all relocations in the June quarter – putting it in line with the pre-COVID average.

Brisbane and Perth continued to attract strong net inflows from other capital cities and regions, in the vicinity of 15 and 13 per cent, up from the 10 per cent share they both held in the 12 months
to June 2022.