What most city-leavers have in common and why it’s a concern for regional Victoria

Well-educated and relatively wealthy city-leavers are fuelling massive property price hikes in regional areas.

A new report from the Melbourne University Future of Work Lab has found 69 per cent of people surveyed who moved from Melbourne to the regions from 2016 to 2021 have a university degree.

Less than a quarter were actively looking for work in regional areas, with most banking on continuing to work remotely for their city-based employers.

The new arrivals are driving house prices up and exacerbating cost-of-living pressures in the regions.

Land prices in the fringe areas of Geelong are now more expensive than on the Melbourne fringe, for the first time ever — Melbourne’s median lot price is $370,000, in Geelong it is $377,000.

Research Fellow in Management and Marketing at Melbourne University, Dr Peter Ghin, says most people making a regional tree-change already have the working conditions and salaries that they want in their city-based jobs.

“It’s going to be difficult for regional organisations to compete,” he told 3AW Breakfast.

Most city-leavers are moving within an hour and a half drive of Melbourne, with Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat among the most popular locations.

Press PLAY below to hear more about the challenge linked to the move to the regions