Perhaps we can reduce some wondering and speculation with easily found statistics/surveys.
On an average day, around 805,000 people use the city...The entire Melbourne metropolitan area has a population of around 4.1 million. (2012/2013?)
So about 20% of population use the cbd on an average day.
Weekday daytime population 788,000. Workers 384,000(2010/2011)
- The number of daily population to Melbourne municipality is set to grow at 2.1 per cent annually in the next two decades reaching a million mark in the next ten years.
- The total estimated number of users of the central city area aged 15 years or over is 599,000
on a weekday and 510,000 on a weekend.
- City workers or people undertaking work related activities account for 58% of the weekday
users (293,000 - including 242,000 whose regular place of work is in the central city area)
- Students account for 10% (48,000) on weekdays
- Users from all
parts of metropolitan Melbourne or Victoria for non-work or studying purposes are estimated at
164,000 on weekdays (32%)
- Just over a quarter (27%) of the residents from the metropolitan Melbourne area (excluding the
City of Melbourne) travel to the central city area at least once a week. This includes 4% who
come to the central city area daily or almost daily.
The last one is probably the most interesting.
Now for my own speculation
If we consider an "average" family of 4 living outside of the city of melbourne area, it's highly likely that at least one person in the household will want/need to visit the city at least once a week. If we consider 6 of these average families, one of these 24 people will need to visit the cbd daily or almost daily.
We can take a guess from these stats the vast majortiy of this 4% (~160,000) are visiting the cbd for work. (242,000 regularly work in cbd, city of melb population 100,000 not all of which will work in the cbd).
If we look at the wider city of melbourne area (which will take into account workers in docklands, st kilda rd etc.), we have 384,000 workers. If we derive from the previous stats that ~66% (160,000/242,000) of workers are from outside the city of melbourne area, then we get ~253,000 or over 6% of the outer population.
Commuting flows in melbourne (based on 2006 stats)(2011)(~p. 209)
- Between 7-22% probability outer suburb residents travel to work in inner suburbs.
- The Inner subsector had 343 359 (i.e. 443 850 less 147 053) more jobs than employed residents, resulting in 77 per cent of its workforce commuting to the Inner sector from other subsectors.
- 45 per cent travelled between 10 and 30 kilometres (of which 31 per cent travel between
10 and 20 kilometres) (to their place of work)
- 10-30% in Outer suburbs travel over 30km to work VS less than 5% in inner and middle suburbs (derived from graph).
- Average commute time to work from city 29min, average commute time to work in city 48min
Distribution of jobs in melbourne(2011)
- 15% of jobs in CBD (~2km radius)
- 28% of jobs within 5km radius
- 50% of jobs within 13km radius
I'd say the chance you need to access the city on a daily basis is less than 50%, however 50% of jobs within 13km still suggests strongly that living
near the city (within 13km) substantially increases the probability that you live near where you work.
Anyway, I seem to be good at following threads off topic.
I think it's pretty reasonable, if they want to increase supply then it makes sense, $10,000 is a good lure for a FHB, i think it will increase the number who buy new instead of existing. I think it will help move some of the inner city apartments quicker, it reduces the gap between a fancy new 1-2br and one that's 10 years old.