Situated less than 100 kilometres from Perth, Northam's picturesque scenery and historic buildings make it a convenient stop for day-tripping tourists.

That is how Joanna Jaramillo-Gutfranska and her family first fell in love with the Wheatbelt town after visiting for weekend trips.

Last year Dr Jaramillo-Gutfranska, along with her husband Omar and nine-year-old twins, decided to make their visits a permanent move, leaving behind their Joondalup home.

"It just grew on us," she said.

"We decided that actually [we] just want to stay there because we never wanted to come back to Perth when it comes to the end of the weekend."

Recent data shows the family is not alone, at least 50 people moved to Northam in the past 12 months.

The shire saw a 151 per cent increase in capital city movers into the town, from mid-2023 to mid-2024, compared to the 12 months prior.

The total of both city and regional-based people relocating to Northam, minus those who moved away, from last June to this June was 250 per cent higher than for 2022/23 in the same time frame.

A lasting trend

Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said this was part of a long-term Australia-wide trend first seen in 2016 and pushed by the COVID pandemic.

"What we've seen in this June quarter is that across the board, net movement to regional Australia from our capital cities is sitting at 16 per cent above pre-pandemic levels," she said.

Ms Ritchie said millennials were the largest demographic of movers, which brought additional benefits to small-town communities.

"They bring with them their families, the education, their energy, their volunteerism spirit," she said.

The data shows that while most of Western Australia's key growth areas are large beach towns, such as Albany and Geraldton, Northam took the top spot for annual net internal migration.

Ms Ritchie said unforeseen growth in the state's coastal areas had pushed up house prices, and people were starting to look at tree change alternatives.

"Australians have always had a love affair with the coast," she said.

"But we are also experiencing some pain from the kind of rapid supercharge growth that we've experienced in the [coastal] regions."

She said pressure was seen in those housing markets with prices increasing "as much as 50 per cent year-on-year growth".

Shire of Northam President Chris Antonio said the lure of attainable housing and acreage had seen an influx of young professionals into Northam.

He said the "peri-urban" town was a good option to get a bigger property for the same price compared to buying in Perth, while still having access to health facilities, banks, supermarkets and other essential facilities

Fresh faces, new skills

Mr Antonio said the Northam Shire has been examining social services, education and jobs for years to prepare for population growth.

"As long as we get all those things together and keep working on those, we've got sort of all the puzzle pieces … now it's just making sure the people come in," he said.

But the new movers themselves bring additional skills and services to the region.

Dr Jaramillo-Gutfranska is in the process of setting up her own GP clinic in Northam, hoping to help reduce waiting times to see a female GP from the current two-week average.

She said even before making the move she felt a warm welcome from Northam's residents, including the Chamber of Commerce and other women in business.

For Dr Jaramillo-Gutfranska, the community atmosphere of small towns was a major drawcard.

She said city dwellers shouldn't be afraid to consider a regional relocation.

"Often people are scared of going to regional places … [but] they will realise that they will not miss much actually, when they move further away from Perth," Dr Jaramillo-Gutfranska said.

With a surplus of local events, community organisations and friendly faces, she said the stereotype of small towns being "sleepy" compared to city living wasn't true.

"In fact, they may find things more interesting," she said.