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The national property platform has partnered with Regional Australia Institute (RAI) to support a campaign aimed at encouraging city dwellers to relocate to regional locations.
Launched in March 2021, The “Move to More” campaign’s main goal is to raise awareness among metropolitan dwellers about the great opportunities to live, work and invest in regional towns and cities.
The federal-funded multi-platform venture, which is set to run through 2022, now included Domain as RAI’s property partner following the tie-up.
As the think tank’s property partner, Domain will use its regional property insights to showcase the opportunities and challenges that exist in the regional property market, including rising demand and housing supply shortages.
Speaking on the partnership, Domain’s chief executive and managing director Jason Pellegrino stated: “[We] will use our insights and research to help consumers and governments make confident property decisions that support a thriving regional Australia.”
The collaboration comes at a time when the latest data indicates that the appeal of joining the tree-change trend has not lost its shine to Aussies and, if anything, has been increasing.
Domain noted that keyword searches for “regional” have increased by 57 per cent — showing that there are hard numbers behind the popular “tree-change” narrative.
The latest data from Domain also showed demand for regional property has been on the rise since May this year, after a few months of modest decline, which it noted was most likely driven by interest rate rises putting pressure on metropolitan housing market affordability.
In another sign of strong appetite for regional properties, houses in regional areas have sold 33 per cent faster than at the same time last year.
One of the major drawcards of regional markets is their relative affordability compared to their metropolitan counterparts. Data showed that national regional house prices are almost half that of the combined capital cities, currently sitting at $570,000 compared to $1.06 million.
But Domain noted that regional Australia is not fully immune to the challenges faced in the metro property markets when it comes to housing affordability and rental shortages.
Data showed that the regional rental market is firmly a landlord’s market, with a vacancy rate of just 0.6 per cent across the combined regional areas.
Mr Pellegrino stated the partnership is an opportunity for Domain to collaborate with RAI on tackling housing market issues.
“We look forward to working with RAI as we collectively face increasingly complex issues of housing affordability, supply shortages, changing demographics of our regional towns and communities and what that means for housing, land release and valuations,” he stated.
Providing more insight on the “pull factors” of regional living, RAI chief executive officer Liz Ritchie stated: “RAI research confirms that the opportunity for more space and more value is a leading pull factor for Australians considering a move to the regions.”
The think tank’s latest research showed that the top three factors drawing Aussies to regional living were: sense of space (77 per cent), connecting with the natural environment (77 per cent) and overall improved wellbeing (75 per cent).
“We are delighted to partner with Domain, Australia’s property marketplace, in showcasing the array of homes and exceptional value on offer in regional Australia,” Ms Ritchie stated.
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