Aussies are continuing to leave the nation’s pricey capital cities in droves, with surging numbers opting to swap the bright lights for a different lifestyle in the country’s booming regional areas.
New analysis of movements between Australia’s capital cities and regions has revealed the most popular destinations for city movers as regional life continues to grow in popularity.
The latest Regional Movers Index recorded its highest level of migration between January and March this year, with the number of people moving from cities to regions 29.7% higher than those making the move the other way.
Moves to regional areas from capital cities accounted for 11.9% of all total internal migration in the period, which is up 20.1% on the December 2025 quarter and 4.7% higher than a year earlier.
The Sunshine Coast and Geelong continue their dominance as the nation’s two most popular alternatives to capital city living, accounting for 12.7% of capital-to-regional moves and 14% of total net migration.
While moving to the regions outside of retirement age was once seen as bucking the trend, options for buyers are thin on the ground, with a home in one of Australia’s eight capital cities costing $64,768 more compared to this time last year.
The Sunshine Coast is Australia's most popular alternative to living in a capital city. Picture: Getty
Annual growth of 6.4% to May has seen the median price of a capital city home skyrocket to $1,012,000, the PropTrack Home Price Index shows, while a median-priced home in a regional area is a more modest $723,000.
Sea change
The report – a joint Commonwealth Bank and Regional Australia Institute (RAI) initiative – shows the number of Aussies choosing the regional life has been on a steady upwards trajectory since 2018, still accounting for a small dip in 2023.
Housing market volatility and high inflation have shaped much of the period, defined most dominantly by the Covid pandemic.
Even as economic conditions shift, RAI chief executive Liz Ritchie said Australians are continuing to choose regional life in greater numbers.
“The trend has been remarkably consistent - people are leaving capital cities for regions, and they’re doing so at increasing rates,” she said.
“Regional Australia is no longer a second choice – it’s the smart choice.”
Buyers depart Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide
While Sydney and Melbourne continue the trend of being the most major contributors to outflows, a new pattern has emerged in 2026.
Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide – the nation’s second, third and fourth most expensive capitals for housing – are widening the picture when it comes to outflows.
Residents who once called the three major cities home are moving elsewhere as prices rise.
“Movement of city dwellers to regional Australia is becoming more geographically dispersed around the country and less concentrated in Australia’s two most populous states,” the report read.
There was a 1% uptick in moves out of Brisbane in the first quarter of the year, while regional Queensland saw a 20% increase in new arrivals.
Homes in Brisbane are 16.4% more expensive than they were 12 months ago, with an average price of $1,080,000 compared to $836,000 in the rest of the state.
Western Australia saw an 8% increase in the number of people moving to regional areas, up from 5% in the three months to March 2025. The index shows a similar change was seen in South Australia, which saw a 6% uptick in new regional residents between January and March, up from 5% in the same period last year.
The Perth and Adelaide markets have seen record growth in the last couple of years, with home values up 20.6% and 13.4% respectively in line with heavy demand.
While home prices in Canberra are up 2.4% on May 2025, the index shows the nation’s capital recorded outflows for the first time, contributing 3% to capital-to-region moves across the first three months of the year.
Home prices have struggled to build momentum in what was long Australia’s second priciest city, falling 0.1% in January and ticking up just 0.2% in February and March.
Aussies are leaving Canberra and looking for regional alternatives. Picture: Getty
Outside of the Sunshine Coast and Geelong, the areas these Aussies are choosing to move to are varied.
Victoria’s Moorabool, Lake Macquarie in northern New South Wales and the Fraser Coast in Queensland are the third, fourth and fifth most popular regional areas for capital city movers, with numbers up 3.6%, 3.1% and 1.8% between January and March, respectively.
Hotspots to watch
The Sunshine Coast and Geelong may take the lion’s share when it comes to capital-to-regional migration, but it's a different picture when it comes to the areas with the biggest growth upticks.
Toowoomba leads the charge, with a 236.4% uptick in net inflows from capital cities. This is followed by Broome (+168.8), Townsville (+159.7%), the Clarence Valley in NSW (+444.1%) and Indigo in Victoria (+133.3%).
Life in Toowoomba is a popular choice among city dwellers searching for a change of scene. Picture: Getty
Net internal migration in the last 12 more broadly was lead by Meander Valley in northern Tasmania which saw a tenfold increase between March 2025 and March 2026.
The area, which covers the western outskirts of Launceston, saw a 33% uptick in capital-to-region growth and 1028% in region-to-region growth.
Douglas in far north Queensland and Central Goldfields in Victoria follow, with Loxton Waikerie in the SA Riverland and the inland NSW region of Bathurst rounding out the top five.
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