Urban dwellers who are fed up with working from home in expensive city homes during COVID-19 are fleeing to country lifestyles.CoreLogic says regional prices have been more stable during the COVID-19 pandemic than capital city marketsSome buyers say "COVID-19 is definitely the catalyst" with remote working enabling them to leave the cityBefore the pandemic, Melbourne resident Ellie Bonnett had spent two years unsuccessfully trying to buy her first home in the capital city market.
"I want to embrace the situation we're in with COVID-19 and move to Daylesford, which is the most special place in the world," Ms Bonnett said.The millennial bought her first home in the country town, two hours north of Melbourne, in May. It cost just under $600,000 and has several bedrooms, a backyard, and a balcony with views over rolling country hills.
The Daylesford real estate agent who sold Ms Bonnett her first house has been fielding more enquiries than ever. For the same period this year — the pandemic months — sales are up to 37, and 85 per cent of the buyers are out of towners.It has been the same trend with the agency's rentals. Other people The Business has spoken to have left the big smoke to move back in with their parents in regional towns in Victoria and NSW, which also may not initially get picked up by official data.Property analysis firm CoreLogic recently commissioned a report into regional migration during COVID-19.
All regional markets initially suffered downturns during COVID-19, however, they have rebounded more quickly than their capital city equivalents, and Illawarra and Ballarat are even up year-on-year by almost 2 per cent.Eliza Owen, CoreLogic's head of research for Australia, said it is too early to tell if the relative stability of regional Australia property markets during COVID-19 is part of a bigger trend.
Why stop at Daylesford? Getting out Danistan is my dream...