Are Regional Towns About To Get More Popular

Would you move away from the city and live in a small regional town if you didn’t need to factor in travelling to work everyday?
It seems that this is exactly what a lot of older Australian’s are doing, with new data from CoreLogic revealing that those of retirement age seem to prefer living away from major cities and are heading to regional towns.
According to figures from CoreLogic, those aged 65 years and older tend to prefer living in coastal or regional townships, with Victor Harbor (SA), Queenscliffe (Vic), Great Lakes (NSW), Yorke Peninsula (SA) and Glamorgan/Spring Bay (Tas) having the highest proportion of people over the age of 65 living there.
In fact, of the top 50 council regions with the highest proportion of over 65s, not one was located in a capital city area.
It’s likely that those in their retirement years are looking to escape the rat race and the hustle and bustle of city life, but the price of housing might be another major consideration.
All but three of the top 50 council areas for over 65s had a median house value below $400,000.
The cheapest place to live on the CoreLogic list was Trayning (WA), which has a median property price of just $84,064.
Retiring to a quiet place with affordable property is likely an appealing option for many, especially if it helps retirement dollars go further, but it will be interesting to see what happens as more and more people start to reach retirement age.
CoreLogic’s data shows that in June 2015, there were 3,569,020 Australians aged 65 years or older, which was equivalent to 15.0% of the total population.
Over the next 15 years 4,294,625 persons are set to reach 65 years of age, this will bring the proportion of over 65s to 18.1%.
This may have an impact on real estate markets in the coming years. Could we see the baby boomer generation pack up and leave our cities? Will regional towns become more popular as a result?
While trends change over time, there’s little question that people have different preferences at different stages of life and with the baby boomers inching closer to retirement age it is possible that we will see some regional areas become more popular in the next 15 years.
To read the full list of the 50 council regions with the highest proportion of persons 65 years or older, visit www.corelogic.com.au.