January 4th 2025.
As the housing market in metropolitan areas becomes increasingly unattainable, more and more Australians are finding themselves drawn to regional areas in search of a place to call their own. While the average commute time in Australia is 48 minutes per day, some individuals have had to endure four times that amount due to the soaring prices in cities.
Megan Burton, a 23-year-old PR consultant, is one of these individuals. She and her partner made the decision to leave behind their 15-minute bus ride to work in favor of a four-hour trek from their home on the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane's CBD. "It was a tough decision," Megan shared in an interview with 9news.com.au. "But as first-home buyers looking for something under $700,000, we didn't have many options in Brisbane. We fell in love with the area and being close to the beach was a bonus. The commute may be brutal, but it was worth it to finally enter the property market at our age."
According to a study by the Regional Australia Institute, there has been a significant increase in the number of people relocating from cities to regional areas since the COVID-19 pandemic. Millennials, aged 28 to 43, are leading the charge in this trend. Megan's commute involves a 30-minute drive to the train station, followed by a 1.5-hour train ride to Brisbane.
When she first made the move 104km away, Megan approached her boss about working from home a few days a week. Fortunately, her boss was understanding and now she is able to work remotely twice a week. Another individual who made the move from a capital city to a regional area is Dr. Aleisha Davis, chief executive at The Shephard Centre in Sydney. Along with her husband and three sons, she left behind the hustle and bustle of Sydney for a quieter life in Bowral, 96km away. Despite having to make the long drive into work in Newtown, Sydney every day, Aleisha has no regrets about the move. "It was a difficult decision, but the constant rat race of Sydney was taking a toll on our family," she shared. "We realized we couldn't afford a home with space in the city, so we took the leap and moved to Bowral. It was the best decision we ever made."
Like Megan, Aleisha's job requires her to be physically present at work, but she doesn't mind the long drive. In fact, she finds it comparable to her previous commute in Sydney's busy traffic. "It's a definite change, but I would choose this over the chaos of Sydney any day," she said.
Bevan Jones, a journalist and podcast host from Adelaide, also faces a lengthy commute to work in Murray Bridge. Living in Morphettville, he has to travel three hours every day to get to his job. With no reliable public transportation options, Bevan has no choice but to drive. "I didn't have much of a choice," he explained. "At least we don't have any tolls here. But the cost of petrol can be unpredictable – some days it's affordable and other days it's sky high." To make the most of his time on the road, Bevan uses it to plan his podcast and even takes a coffee break along the way. Despite the long commute, he is content with his decision to live in a place he loves and work a job he enjoys.
Experts predict that the trend of moving to coastal regions will continue to rise in the coming years. The 2025 McGrath Report forecasts that more Australians will make a sea change in 2022, seeking a slower pace of life and the opportunity to own their own home in a more affordable location.
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