New Covid outbreaks are forcing people out of Sydney and to regional areas to work from home – and government planners are worried
- NSW Department of Planning has released a report on 2020 population changes
- Experts are worried about the effect of Covid restrictions on Sydney’s economy
- Sydney’s house prices dropped as property values in regional areas hit records
Covid scares are causing more people to move away from Sydney and live in a regional area where houses near the beach are much cheaper.
Median house prices on the New South Wales north coast, from Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie and Forster, this year hit record highs.
Since April, during the early stages of coronavirus lockdowns, property prices in Sydney have fallen by three per cent while equivalent housing values in regional areas have risen by three per cent.
Covid scares are causing more people to move away from Sydney and live in a regional area where houses near the beach are much cheaper. Pictured is Covid testing at Summer Hill in Sydney’s Inner West
Sydney’s median house price of $1million, despite recent falls, is still double Coffs Harbour’s $489,952 and the Mid-North Coast’s $477,891, CoreLogic data for November showed.
The Richmond-Tweed area saw its price climb to $597,212 as house values at Newcastle and Lake Macquarie rose to $602,510.
The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said Covid restrictions had played a major role in Sydney house prices falling as regional areas thrived.
‘This divergence may be due to many factors, including: regional industries being less affected by social restrictions, job opportunities driven by a stronger rebound in job vacancies in regional NSW and perhaps some people moving from Sydney given the ability to work remotely,’ it said in a report released on Thursday.
The summer bushfires of a year ago, the Covid shutdowns and the closure of Australia’s border to tourists caused the NSW economy to shrink, over an entire financial year, for the first time ever.
During the last national recession in 1991, the state economy grew over the year even as gross domestic product went backwards in the March and June quarters.
Economists at the NSW Department of Planning are particularly worried about the effect Covid will have on greater Sydney.
‘In 2019–20, the NSW economy contracted for the first time in recorded history,’ the report said.
‘The economy is a key driver of population change in NSW.
Since April, during the early stages of coronavirus lockdowns, property prices in Sydney have fallen by three per cent while equivalent housing values in regional areas have risen by three per cent
‘The full impact of COVID-19 on population change in NSW will not show up in these statistics for some time—the 2021 edition will reveal more information.’
Before the pandemic, immigration accounted for half the state’s annual population growth with the majority of migrants settling in Sydney.
The NSW government is expecting Australia’s net overseas migration to fall from 154,000 in 2019-20 to 72,000 by the end of 2020-21 before rising to 201,000 in 2023-24.
Before the pandemic, immigration accounted for half the state’s annual population growth with the majority of migrants settling in Sydney. The NSW government is expecting Australia’s net overseas migration to fall from 154,000 in 2019-20 to 72,000 by the end of 2020-21 before rising to 201,000 in 2023-24
In 2018–19 – the first full financial year before the pandemic – net overseas migration added 82,000 people to the NSW population, or 60 per cent of the population growth.
For greater Sydney, it contributed 72,500 people, or 70 per cent of population growth.
‘The impacts of COVID-19 on local populations and local economies are likely to vary throughout the state,’ the report said.
‘We expect the greatest impact on population change in the greater Sydney region.’
