The influx of people living in the cities is fueling house prices and demand in Geelong

Geelong has retained its position as Australia’s second most liveable regional city after its proportion of people moving from big cities increased by 2025.

Figures from the New Regional Australia Institute revealed 6.6 per cent of people left the capital to settle in Geelong in the 12 months to September.

The city’s lifestyle and accessibility has led to a 6 percent increase in people leaving big cities for good, the quarterly Regional Movers Index says.

The Sunshine Coast remains the region’s most popular destination, despite 7.1 per cent of people moving from the cities to almost 17 per cent moving north over the same period in 2024.

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A growing trend has emerged for people moving beyond Geelong, with an 11.4 per cent increase per year on the Surf Coast and a four-fold increase in Colac-Otway Shire.

The growing demand of people from the big cities is contributing to the increase in property prices, amid increased competition for housing, and putting pressure on meeting the housing needs of the region.

PropTrack Home Price Index data revealed a 3.2 per cent increase in Geelong’s median house price to $793,000 by the end of 2025.

Maxwell Collins Geelong agent Nick Lord said the influx of people from Melbourne was helping to strengthen Geelong’s property market.

Maxwell Collins director Nick Lord said interest from buyers leaving Melbourne was supporting Geelong’s property market.

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“We’ve had a clear increase in Melbourne traffic compared to local buyers over the last couple of cycles. At the moment I think it’s stable,” Mr Lord said.

“We see a lot of people moving to Geelong for health or work purposes.

“The lifestyle and word of mouth has really spread. Coupled with affordability and people working from home post-Covid has created a small barrier for people to go up the high street.”

RAI chief executive, Liz Ritchie, said the index showed that the number of people migrating to the regions increased by 11.8 percent as the regions gained thousands of residents, marking one of the highest levels since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.

“We see that the increase in going to the regions where there are, there are many places to choose from,” said Ms. Ritchie.

Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said the federal government needs to better plan where to build housing in regional Australia. Photo: Jonathan Ng

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“The tension between the Sunshine Coast and Geelong has always been strong. But there is a wider story about going south in places like Albury/Wodonga, the Tasmanian states and Colac.

“It’s not that people move to these areas without working, they find a way to design the life they want to live and live where they want.”

Ms Ritchie said the agency supported the federal government’s housing policy, but called for more investment as the county’s population grew.

The latest figures show that the National Housing Accord is almost 60,000 behind the goal.

“There is a race to meet the target, but the target is not always close to the plan,” he said.

“We have been saying for many years that we need this plan and a map of where housing investment should go.”

The Regional Movers Index records the total migration of Commonwealth Bank customers from metropolitan areas to regional areas who have stayed for at least six months.