Melbourne remains Australia's top city for relocation

Muval has found Melbourne is the most sought-after city for relocation in Australia for the 15^th straight month.

Brisbane and Adelaide have recorded the least interest by people seeking to move, according to Muval's data.

With a quarter (25 per cent) of all inbound major metro moving enquiries in May, Melbourne is the place to be amid the cost of living crisis.

The influx is predominantly driven by Sydneysiders as well as those relocating from Brisbane and Perth.

Although Melbourne's net migration remains slightly negative at -15 per cent, it shows a significant improvement compared to the peak of the pandemic when it reached a low of -61 per cent in August 2020.

Brisbane is the second most favoured city for relocation, attracting about a fifth (22 per cent) of all metro moves.

However, the city is also witnessing a significant number of residents leaving for Melbourne, Perth, and regional areas like the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.

Muval CEO James Morrell said Brisbane has reached a record high in outbound moving enquiries, accounting for 19 per cent of all metro moves.

"With so many residents abandoning the city, Brisbane is hovering near negative net migration based on moving enquiries at +5 per cent in May, a sharp six month slide from the +32 per cent in December last year when the city was still a sizzling hot spot off the back of the pandemic," Mr Morrell said.

Interest for the Gold Coast was waning with inbound moving enquiries dropping by six per cent during the first half of this year (Jan-May) compared to the same period last year.

While the Gold Coast was still experiencing positive net migration (+50 per cent in May), the substantial influxes observed during the pandemic (+540 per cent in 2021) were now stabilising.

There was also growing interest among residents to move out of the Gold Coast, leading to a 44 per cent increase in outbound enquiries during the first half of this year compared to the same timeframe last year.

"Gold Coast residents are looking to move to a mixture of cities and smaller towns, with some appearing to move back to the big smoke now the pandemic is over and others in search of more affordable housing that's still in a desirable waterfront locations," Mr Morrell said.

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The Sunshine Coast continued to attract people, maintaining a positive net migration of over +100 per cent (reaching a high of +500 per cent during the pandemic).

Inbound moving enquiries had surged by 20 per cent in the first half of this year.

The primary source of migration stems from Brisbane with Sydney emerging as the second biggest metro feeder into the Sunshine Coast.

Following the peak of the pandemic where a +200 per cent positive net migration was recorded in 2021, Cairns was now experiencing a "cooling phase".

In the first half of this year, there was a 50 per cent increase in outbound moving enquiries.

Most of these people are relocating to major cities like Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

While Perth continued to boast the strongest positive net migration in the country, there were indications of a slowdown in May, based on the removalist data.

Perth experienced a decrease from an average of about +100 per cent migration this year to +86 per cent.

This figure was considerably lower than the pandemic high of +181 per cent seen in 2021.

"Perth is still a hot spot with residents fleeing higher cost of living pressures in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane," Mr Morrell said.

Sydney's popularity as a relocation destination continued to decline in May, solidifying its position as the fourth most sought after city to move to.

Sydney accounted for 17 per cent of all major metro moves, and conversely, one in three (32 per cent) of all outbound metro moves came from Sydney in May.

"It has now been 18 straight months where one in three outbound metro moving enquiries is from the city, suggesting that the cost-of-living exodus could be on par with COVID," Mr Morrell said.

Following a temporary decline in interest when rates began to rise in May 2022, Byron Bay has since emerged as a "powerhouse" and continues to gain popularity.

Data indicates a 46 per cent increase in interest to move to Byron Bay during the first half of this year.

While Melburnians were the primary movers during the pandemic, residents from Sydney and Brisbane were now also seeking an escape from city life.

Newcastle is poised to become a thriving property market as evidenced by a 90 per cent increase in interest to move there during the first half of this year.

"It has been a market on the move for several years but of late there has been major interest from Sydneysiders wanting to move in, as well as increased activity from Hobart," Mr Morrell said.

Adelaide has entered its 10^th consecutive month of negative net migration.

May saw a big fall from -9 per cent in March to -18 per cent, showing more residents are moving out than in.

"Outbound migration sat at 9 per cent in May, while the city received just 8 per cent of all major metro inbound moving enquiries," Mr Morrell said.