Population growth across the suburbs: Who’s moving where and why.

[redwing]

From RP Data

Population movements are an important element of housing demand; more people means more demand for housing. With Australia’s rate of population growth slipping from a high of 2.2% or 467,300 new residents over the year to December 2008 down to 1.4% (319,600 persons) over the year to September 2011, there has clearly been a fall in housing demand.

While the slowdown in population growth is a national phenomenon, there are still plenty of regions around Australia where, at least according to estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, population growth remains quite rapid.

As can be seen from the table below which shows the council regions around the country with the largest number of new residents over the past five years, Queensland continues to attract a large number of new residents. In fact many of the council regions that comprise South East Queensland rank quite high in the top council regions list for population growth over the five years to June 2011.

The regions showing a population deficit are all rural locations, many of which have been recording a fall in population for some time. Each of the regions featured in the top 15 list below is recording a population lower than what was recorded not just five years ago, but ten years ago. Of the 565 council regions around the country, 153 (or just over a quarter) of them have recorded a population decline over the past decade.

Source

 

[BayView]

Like in the US, I would say (and I have no hard evidence) that the whole world wants to be where the jobs and the excitement is.

All the immigrants want to go to the good schools, live in the city, and so on. They ain't saddling up with a plonker-ville life out in the sticks any time soon.

My growing up years were spent in a Riverina town, and from recent visits I've seen the town is in decline.

The kids bugger off to the big smoke, leaving a few farmers, a bit of a welfare crowd (cheap housing) and retirees plodding around the empty streets.

Cities to keep on increasing, and outback to die a slow death.