Aussies are bailing on the big smoke and flocking to lifestyle hubs in 2026, with fresh relocation data revealing the unlikely suburbs set to boom.
The biggest drawcards? More space, better value and a slower pace.
A three‑year trend analysis by removalists platform Muval ranked suburbs by the rise in their share of total move inquiries over time, drawn from more than 200,000 moves.
While raw volumes are confidential, the trend is unmistakeable: lifestyle, affordability and space are trumping inner‑city living.
Regional hotspots like Port Macquarie, Hobart and Bendigo are leading the charge, showing coastal and regional centres are grabbing buyers who want lower housing costs, more room and stronger community appeal than the capitals.
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Outer‑belt growth areas in Melbourne and South East Queensland – including Mickleham–Yuroke and Greenbank–North Maclean – are also surging as families chase new housing, infrastructure and value.
PropTrack figures underscore the shift.
Source: Muval
In Port Macquarie, unit prices have dipped 1.6 per cent over the past three months to about $610,000, while houses sit around $910,000.
Hobart’s average house price is about $1.06 million and units fetch roughly $920,000. Bendigo still offers good‑sized family homes around $595,100, and buyers in Mickleham, Victoria, are seeing house prices near $700,000.
In Newcastle’s Cooks Hill, units average about $805,000 – all well shy of Sydney’s City and Inner South where home prices start around $3 million.
“Many people are moving away from inner capital cities toward regional centres and outer suburban areas where housing is more accessible, and you get more space for your money,” Muval co‑founder and CEO James Morrell said.
“Lifestyle is also playing a major role. Locations like Port Macquarie, Hobart and Bendigo offer a slower pace, less congestion and strong community appeal, while growth corridors on city fringes attract families with new housing, infrastructure and access to jobs.
“Overall, I think Aussies are looking for a better balance between cost of living, lifestyle and long‑term liveability.”
Hobart ranked among Australia’s top relocation towns.
It’s not just a youth exodus.
Recent migration data shows millennials make up the largest share of people relocating to regional Australia, driven by affordability and work‑life balance, but downsizers and retirees are joining the movement, particularly to coastal and lifestyle regions.
Meanwhile, the places Aussies were most likely to leave in 2025 included Darwin, Brisbane’s Inner City and Sydney’s inner‑city core – areas where spiralling prices and density can make the trade‑off feel stark.
The catch is that moving itself isn’t cheap.
Port Macquarie saw the highest number of relocations over the past three years.
Supplementary data from Airtasker suggests a single house move can top $89,000 once all the costs are counted, with the lifetime spend on moving homes reaching around $214,900. Day‑to‑day removalist fees scale with bedrooms and distance – apartments generally cost less than houses, and stairs add to the bill – but the biggest factor is how far you’re going, with a short 0–1 bedroom apartment move landing near $300 and an extra‑long 3‑bedroom house move averaging about $2000.
With city prices stretching budgets and lifestyle climbing the priority list, Australia’s coastal, regional and fringe‑suburban belts look set to keep booming through 2026 – and inner‑city departures will likely continue as households chase a smarter balance between cost of living and liveability.
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