Significant infrastructure upgrades, paired with South Australia’s handling of the Covid pandemic, has made Adelaide hot property in recent years, with many interstaters crossing the border to call the Festival State home.
According to new data by findamover.com.au, Adelaide’s CBD has attracted the most interstate migration of any suburb over the past 12 months.
Findamover.com.au tracked 938 moves over the past 12 months, with 7 per cent of these coming from western Sydney, 6 per cent from inner Melbourne and another 5 per cent from eastern Melbourne.
Mawson Lakes came in second with 188 moves, with 13 per cent of these each coming from both western Melbourne and northern Melbourne, and 11 per cent from Western Sydney.
Prospect was the third-most popular suburb, with Melbourne’s south east accounting for 11 per cent and Sydney’s inner west making up 9 per cent of moves.
Aerial view of Adelaide CBD. Supplied by Knight Frank
According to the report, across metropolitan Adelaide, buyers have moved up the property ladder rather than down in just six of the past 12 quarters – the worst in the nation.
Just under half of these (47 per cent) bought a higher value home than the one they moved from, with half (50 per cent) of the year’s sales were people buying a lower value home.
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Find a Mover founder and director Howe Tran said Sydney and Adelaide are feeling the most pressure.
“Both have had multiple negative quarters and the data shows people in those markets are finding it harder to move up,” he said.
“Adelaide is the one we’d call fragile.
“The thing about Adelaide is the price gaps between suburbs are so narrow that it doesn’t take much to tip the balance.”
Andrew Downing of Ray White Adelaide City
Ray White agent Andrew Downing, who sells in the city, said the state government’s handling of the Covid pandemic had put Adelaide on the map.
“That was the catalyst, particularly when you had people in Melbourne and Sydney having a horrendous time with it, and then over here we got through it really well and we got that drip of people and it quickly turned into a flood,” he said.
“Recent infrastructure upgrades and the huge number of festivals we have now are also a huge drawcard and help create that liveability that makes people want to be here.
“Our apartment market has never been so strong and Adelaide houses outgrew houses last year for the first time.”
Alexander White, 41, who is the director of a government relations firm, bought in the city in October after returning to Adelaide from a stint in Sydney and said it not only represented good value but now offered a great lifestyle.
“I left Adelaide when I was 18 and at that time would have never expected I’d be back at this point in life,” he said.
Alexander White has recently moved back to Adelaide from Sydney. Picture: Eleni Tzanos
“A friend commented recently that people in Adelaide used to wander down King William St staring at the ground, whereas now people walk with a sense of pride.
“With Gather Round, Fringe and the Ashes, I’ve had more interstate visitors and excellent times with family and friends in the months I’ve been back than at any time I ever did in Melbourne or Sydney – I have no plans to go anywhere else now.”
– with Aleisha Dawson
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