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Australia's capital-city dwellers are fleeing the urban grind at a rate not seen since states still had COVID restrictions in place — and Queensland's beachside centres are proving the most attractive.
The Regional Movers Index chronicles how many people change location, including the places they leave and where they make a new life.
Sydney, Melbourne head north
The report, which was released on Wednesday, found 65 per cent of people choosing a sea change or tree change were leaving Sydney, followed by Melbourne.
Queensland's Sunshine Coast drew the biggest portion of these "internal migrants", whether from regional or metro areas.
Its popularity has eclipsed the Gold Coast for the fifth quarter in a row.
Hairdressers Shaun and Natalie Neal, along with nine-year-old son Arik, uprooted their lives in Greater Melbourne to move to the tourism hotspot.
Mr Neal said their home on the Mornington Peninsula was becoming increasingly busy, and after their latest holiday to the Sunshine Coast, they decided to make the visit more permanent.
"As we drove back home and we hit the Victorian border, it dropped about 10 degrees and started horizontal raining," he said.
"And from that moment, we made plans to move – and six months later we did."
'It feels like we've lived here for years'
Mr Neal and his wife shut their popular salon, ultimately reopening it 1,900 kilometres north in the leafy suburb of Buderim.
The challenge, he said, was moving away from his grown-up son Gage and re-settling his younger son at school.
"Moving our son who was in grade two at the time and doing really well, then bringing him to a new school – that was a bit daunting," he said.
"But we were up here for four weeks and then we opened the hairdressing salon.
"Since we've done that, we've gone leaps and bounds, it feels like we've lived here for years."
Hitting the road
Three of Australia's most in-demand regions were in Queensland, with the Sunshine Coast at the top of the ladder.
The Gold Coast was second, Greater Geelong and Moorabool in Victoria took third and fourth spots and Queensland's Fraser Coast came in at fifth spot.
The areas that experienced the biggest growth relative to their size included Boddington in Western Australia, Bellingen in New South Wales and the North Burnett region of Queensland.
Mostly Millennials and Gen Xers moved to Boddington while 70 per cent of those moving to the North Burnett were Millennials.
On a state level, regional New South Wales received 36 per cent of capital city deserters, followed by regional Queensland with 32 per cent and regional Victoria with 30 per cent.
Areas closer to Sydney including Lake Macquarie, Cessnock and Maitland also showed up on the hotspot list.
Regional Australia Institute chief Liz Ritchie said many more Australians were leaving capital cities for the regions, not the other way round.
"Regional Australia offers something more for many people, especially those from big cities," she said.
Most regions still more affordable
Ms Ritchie said people were being lured to the regions with the promise of "more space, more time, more affordability".
But those seeking a regional sea-change may find some popular spots now out of their price range.
New data from Queensland's real estate industry found the average price of a home on the Sunshine Coast was $950,000, and $1 million on the Gold Coast.
However a home on the Fraser Coast was still selling — on average — for $565,000, and Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville all had median prices of less than $500,000.
Shift 'supercharged' by pandemic
Ms Ritchie said the shift away from capital city living had been underway for a decade.
"It was definitely supercharged by COVID, but this data proves the regions are still very desirable for a significant proportion of the population," she said.
Regional Australia Institute chief economist Kim Houghton said the migration from cities to regions was a long-running and sustained pattern.
Dr Houghton called on private and public sector investment to keep up.
The report showed that while more people were leaving capitals, the overall rate of relocations hit a four-year-low.
The report found that was likely due to people being reluctant to move ahead of Christmas and New Year.
The next report will show whether the rate rebounds in the first months of 2024.
Mr Neal said he had no regrets about his big family move.
He admitted there was some level of culture shock when they arrived, but they were not hard to live with.
"People up here are really friendly, which it took me a little bit to get used to," he said.
"At first I'm like, 'Oh, what's your angle? How come you're saying hello to me? I don't even know you'.
"But it's really friendly people up here, which is great."