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Daily Mail
28-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Why boomers are holding on to their massive homes - even if they want to downsize
Aussie boomers are often criticised for not downsizing, but there's a good reason why they're holding onto their big properties. New data from the Regional Australia Institute shows that only 25 per cent of Boomers - aged 65 and older - are open to moving from a capital city to a regional area - the lowest of any age group. In contrast, 57 per cent of Millennials and 37 per cent of Gen Xers are more willing to make a tree change. Selling a $2million home in Sydney could allow a couple to buy a $1million property in coastal towns like Port Macquarie or Coffs Harbour - leaving them with $1million in cash. But that windfall could affect their eligibility for the age pension due to the government's assets test. While the family home is exempt from the test, any leftover funds, whether held in cash or superannuation, are counted. As a result, many older couples are choosing to stay in their large homes to protect their pension entitlements, despite no longer needing the space. Financial adviser and author Helen Baker said older Australians are delaying selling their homes to ensure that they maximise their pensions. They usually only sell when they've run out of super and downsizing is their back-up option to release more cash. A couple with $1million in cash, after selling the family home, could potentially put that money into super and live off an income stream known as an annuity. But having access to the age pension, or a part age pension, can help with bills ranging from electricity to health costs, plus travel. 'There are benefits in even getting a part age pension,' Ms Baker said. The Association of Super Funds of Australia says couples need $73,875 a year for a 'comfortable' retirement which includes an overseas holiday every seven years. But with access to an age pension, it's possible for those aged 65 to 84 to live on $43,753 a year. When it came to younger Australians who don't own a home Ms Baker, the founder of On Your Own Two Feet, suggested they consider purchasing an investment property with a friend or a sibling to at least get into the housing market. 'I think the problem for younger people now is they don't get in,' she said. 'It's likely that property will continue to rise over the short-term, maybe, and even definitely the medium, long-term.' Australia's median capital city house price of $1.026million is beyond the reach of the average, full-time worker on a $102,742 salary. That's because the banks are reluctant to lend someone more than 5.2 times their salary before tax. This means an average-income worker would only be able to buy a $665,000 apartment with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit. Those wanting a house would have to do so with a friend or sibling if they weren't married or in a long-term relationship, unless they were in a highly-paid job. 'The nurses, the teachers, aged care workers, childcare workers, hairdressers, for these people, it's incredibly difficult for them to purchase a property but those who are in more executive positions, or even tradies these days with what they're earning, they have more of an opportunity,' Ms Baker said. 'Are they willing to make the sacrifices in other things that they're spending their money on - to meet the obligations of their mortgage?' The e61 Institute think tank said unaffordable house prices meant younger Australians were delaying key milestones like buying a house or starting a family. 'Today's young Australians are navigating a different economic and social landscape than the generations before them,' it said. 'While young people always face a degree of precarity as they transition into adulthood, there are social and economic changes, as well as changing preferences, that are pushing key life milestones – like buying a home, moving out of the family home and starting a family further down the track. 'Today's 25 to 34-year-olds have a lower home ownership rate compared to their parents when they were the same age – with this disparity greater in capital cities.' This is also particularly the case for those unable to access the Bank of Mum and Dad to get into the housing market. Millennials are increasingly relying on their boomer parents to set themselves up financially, including with that 20 per cent mortgage deposit. Ms Baker said this was now the new divide between the haves and have-nots. 'There's a lot of talk about getting some early inheritance from the Bank of Mum and Dad,' she said. 'To me, this deposit for a house and buying a property, it's become the new private school.' Those boomers helping their children - by selling their family home - are also making a financial sacrifice by comprimising their ability to get the age pension.
Daily Mail
28-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The top towns Aussies are fleeing to in droves and the surprising group that's leaving the big cities for a lifestyle change
Aussies fleeing the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne are choosing to settle in more affordable regional centres that are still within reach of capital cities. Those making a sea or tree change from a major city are choosing destinations like Newcastle, Geelong, and the Sunshine Coast as their new home, based on Commonwealth Bank customer data shared with the Regional Australia Institute. These three towns are within two hours of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane respectively and share some of the delights of Australia's biggest cities - just without the same prohibitive cost. 'They're bigger centres ... they come with the amenity that can sometimes be a barrier for other regional locations,' said Liz Ritchie, CEO of the Regional Australia Institute. 'It's a big decision to move and so (they have) closer proximity, where they know that they can drive within a couple of hours back to see family or friends back in that capital city. 'It makes sense that your first move might just be dipping your toe in the water.' It is clear that many Australians are moving - with New South Wales reporting an exodus of 28,000 residents this year, while cheaper south east Queensland gained 26,000 residents. However, just over 3,200 people leave Victoria every year, suggesting many leaving Melbourne are heading to a regional area a short drive away rather than another state with warmer weather. In Victoria, Geelong received the largest share of migration from another part of Australia with a generous 9.3 per cent share, Regional Australia Institute data showed. The neighbouring Moorabool council area, north of Geelong, gets 3.7 per cent of interstate migration while Ballarat attracts 2.4 per cent of Australians relocating. Queensland gets the biggest number of Australians moving from another state with the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane getting an 8.9 per cent of movers. Surprisingly, the Gold Coast is no longer the hotspot for interstate migration it once was, attracting just one per cent of Aussie movers. 'Having spoken to many people who live there, it was very popular in the Covid period, then we felt that it was starting to experience some of the growing pains,' Ms Ritchie said. 'Even just getting around, driving regular sort of errands, became quite difficult. 'As price rises increase, places become too hot.' Instead, the Fraser Coast - which includes Hervey Bay - was the second most popular place to move to, getting 3.3 per cent of relocators. Nearby Gympie is the third most popular tree change destination, with a two per cent share. In New South Wales, areas near Newcastle are the magnets for those moving to a regional area. Lake Macquarie attracted 5.3 per cent of people moving from another part of Australia while nearby Maitland took in 3.5 per cent of movers. The Shoalhaven council area - covering Nowra and Ulladulla on the south coast - was the third most popular place to resettle in NSW, getting 2.6 per cent of interstate migration. When it came to making the move to a regional area, Millennials born from 1981 to 1996 were the most enthusiastic about change. More than half or 57 per cent of Millennials are considering such a move, a YouGov poll of 1,028 people for the Regional Australia Institute found. In a break with recent decades, those in their thirties and forties raising children are now actively considering a regional area, where they could afford a house with a backyard and be close to nature. 'What was once not happening is now happening and so they're taking over,' Ms Ritchie said. 'The housing's more affordable, cheaper cost of living and you don't have the commute. 'Because of the hip pocket, high inflation, high interest rates - the issues we've been reading about daily for the last two years, this is driving these decisions.' Moving to a regional area also gives young people the chance to be more involved with the community they live in. 'Not only do they want to buy a house, they also want to coach the local football team or be part of the local community group, whatever it is that makes them tick,' she said. 'So you do have more time and more space and more connection to each other and more connection to the environment.' Generation Z adults - born from 1997 onwards - were also open minded about moving, with 40 per cent inclined to make the move, putting it well ahead of the 25 per cent of boomers considering a change. The e61 Institute think tank noted Millennial and Gen Z Australians - aged 25 to 34 - were particularly struggling to buy a home, like their parents were able to do at the same age 'with this disparity greater in capital cities'. 'Regardless of occupation, Millennials are leaving Sydney and, more recently, Melbourne, as traditional milestones like owning a home may no longer be seen as attainable to many young Australians living in these major cities,' it said. 'Whether home ownership rates will converge with age remains to be seen.' The ability of white collar professionals to work from home is also accelerating the move to regional areas among younger people. Some 47 per cent of those able to work from home say they would consider moving and continuing in their current role on a remote or hybrid basis. Ms Ritchie suggested working from home was now embedded in Australia's workplace culture, and could accelerate the shift to regional areas among the young. 'It tells us that this is here to stay,' she said. 'They're moving because they want to bring the job that they're in, they want to work remotely. 'Look at how our technology and connectivity has emerged and the pace of change - with that technology uplift, younger people are taking advantage of those opportunities.' The number of Millennials moving to a regional area grew by 54,000 between the 2016 and 2021 Census surveys, a Regional Australia Institute analysis showed. Even before Covid, a major shift was underway. 'Probably you have to go back to the mid-1950s - so a massive change really in a short period.' To illustrate this point, house prices in regional areas rose by 5.4 per cent over the year to May, CoreLogic data showed. This outpaced the three per cent growth pace of capital cities.
The Advertiser
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
'Carn, slab, cask and spew': Australian slang added to dictionary
Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Eleven words and phrases debuted this month. Carn, a typically Australian sporting expression meaning 'come on', is famously ingrained in Aussie culture. "Carn is one of the words in this batch of [the dictionary] additions that shows Australians' enthusiasm for sports," an accompanying explanation says. The slang term 'spew' is described as "idiosyncratically Australian" and applies to someone who is "bitterly disappointed". READ MORE: Revealed: the safest airlines in the world for 2025 and the surprising debuts "An Australian who says they are 'absolutely spewing' means they are devastated or angry," according to the dictionary. 'Regional' is also perceived as distinctly Aussie and has made its debut. It is applied to anything relating to a region or regions away from major cities, typically characterised by medium to small cities and towns. "According to the Regional Australia Institute, this includes everything outside of the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra - from remote communities to inland and coastal towns and busy regional hubs," the dictionary says. READ MORE: 'You say tomato': Italian chef corrects Australia's common mispronunciations Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Eleven words and phrases debuted this month. Carn, a typically Australian sporting expression meaning 'come on', is famously ingrained in Aussie culture. "Carn is one of the words in this batch of [the dictionary] additions that shows Australians' enthusiasm for sports," an accompanying explanation says. The slang term 'spew' is described as "idiosyncratically Australian" and applies to someone who is "bitterly disappointed". READ MORE: Revealed: the safest airlines in the world for 2025 and the surprising debuts "An Australian who says they are 'absolutely spewing' means they are devastated or angry," according to the dictionary. 'Regional' is also perceived as distinctly Aussie and has made its debut. It is applied to anything relating to a region or regions away from major cities, typically characterised by medium to small cities and towns. "According to the Regional Australia Institute, this includes everything outside of the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra - from remote communities to inland and coastal towns and busy regional hubs," the dictionary says. READ MORE: 'You say tomato': Italian chef corrects Australia's common mispronunciations Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Eleven words and phrases debuted this month. Carn, a typically Australian sporting expression meaning 'come on', is famously ingrained in Aussie culture. "Carn is one of the words in this batch of [the dictionary] additions that shows Australians' enthusiasm for sports," an accompanying explanation says. The slang term 'spew' is described as "idiosyncratically Australian" and applies to someone who is "bitterly disappointed". READ MORE: Revealed: the safest airlines in the world for 2025 and the surprising debuts "An Australian who says they are 'absolutely spewing' means they are devastated or angry," according to the dictionary. 'Regional' is also perceived as distinctly Aussie and has made its debut. It is applied to anything relating to a region or regions away from major cities, typically characterised by medium to small cities and towns. "According to the Regional Australia Institute, this includes everything outside of the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra - from remote communities to inland and coastal towns and busy regional hubs," the dictionary says. READ MORE: 'You say tomato': Italian chef corrects Australia's common mispronunciations Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Eleven words and phrases debuted this month. Carn, a typically Australian sporting expression meaning 'come on', is famously ingrained in Aussie culture. "Carn is one of the words in this batch of [the dictionary] additions that shows Australians' enthusiasm for sports," an accompanying explanation says. The slang term 'spew' is described as "idiosyncratically Australian" and applies to someone who is "bitterly disappointed". READ MORE: Revealed: the safest airlines in the world for 2025 and the surprising debuts "An Australian who says they are 'absolutely spewing' means they are devastated or angry," according to the dictionary. 'Regional' is also perceived as distinctly Aussie and has made its debut. It is applied to anything relating to a region or regions away from major cities, typically characterised by medium to small cities and towns. "According to the Regional Australia Institute, this includes everything outside of the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra - from remote communities to inland and coastal towns and busy regional hubs," the dictionary says. READ MORE: 'You say tomato': Italian chef corrects Australia's common mispronunciations
Time Out
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time Out
Geelong is the top destination in Australia for city dwellers migrating to regional areas
While we will always be Melbourne's biggest advocates, we can understand that the hustle and bustle of a big city isn't for everyone. Sure, the allure of world-class restaurants and scintillating stage shows is undeniable, but there is also an appealing side to the slower life away from bright lights and traffic jams. So when a quieter lifestyle calls, where are people choosing to live? Well, it turns out there has been a huge surge in city dwellers opting for Melbourne's smaller sibling, the regional town of Geelong. So much so that the Greater Geelong area has been reported as the top destination in Australia for regional migration from capital cities. This intel comes from the latest edition of Regional Australia Institute 's quarterly Regional Movers Index (RMI), which in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank, used relocation data from its customer base of 14.3 million people to determine the stats. The RMI began after a big trend in people moving away from capital cities emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the average level of regional migration since then remaining consistently around 20.5 per cent higher than pre-pandemic times. Geelong was the most popular place in the country for people wanting a tree change during the 12 months to March 2025, seeing a 116 per cent increase in migration inflow from the same period the previous year. Other top regions across the country were the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Moorabool in Victoria and Maitland in New South Wales. The Victorian local government areas of Latrobe in Gippsland and Greater Bendigo were also among popular areas with the biggest growth in migration from capital cities. This trend isn't going anywhere either – it's still on the up. In the first quarter of 2025, migration from capital cities to regional areas increased by 10.5 per cent. Most of this movement has come from people leaving Sydney and Melbourne. We know there's plenty in the regions for tree-changers to enjoy – from quaint country towns to stunning national parks and heaps more. So for those leaving the concrete jungle behind, there's still plenty to explore.
Herald Sun
01-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Interest rate cut has immediate impact on Geelong home prices
Geelong's property market is just a chip-shot away from making up the ground lost in home prices over the past 12 months, new data shows. The latest PropTrack Home Price Index results reveals the median home price in Geelong ended May just .67 per cent shy of the value recorded at the same time last year. It marks a quick turnaround as the Reserve Bank locked in the second interest-rate cut in 2025 a fortnight after the government banked a stunning federal election win. RELATED: 'Biggest challenge' facing Geelong's population success Geelong tops Australia's regional migration rankings East Geelong character home sells $120k above reserve Geelong's median house price reached $893,000 in May, according to the PropTrack figures, just shy of the figure recorded in 2024. The value of a typical unit is up on all measures, reaching $612,000 by the end of May. PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said Geelong was not far off returning to positive territory on annual terms. 'It's a bit of a chip shot, and it's likely that prices are going to continue lifting throughout the remainder of 2025,' Ms Creagh said. 'We're seeing that price momentum has increased and broadened with interest rates falling. 'And we know that lower interest rates have lifted borrowing capacities and boosted buyer demand, and of course, with further price increases and rate cuts expected, prospective buyers are moving off the sidelines and accelerating their purchasing decisions. 'And as a result, we're seeing that growth momentum has increased, underpinned by improving buyer sentiment and confidence.' Ms Creagh said it appears that interest rates moving lower has buoyed buyer confidence. 'I think people are anticipating that interest rates are going to continue to move lower already and that prices are going to continue to rise.' The fast turnaround comes regional prices outpaced the combined capitals. Regional home prices are now 65 per cent higher than their levels five years ago. The turnaround in buyer sentiment after an interest-rate cut comes amid continued strong population growth on the back of nation-leading internal migration figures. More than 10 per cent of people moving to regional Australia have settled in Geelong, the Regional Australia Institute data from the Regional Movers Index revealed. McGrath, Geelong agent David Cortous said the changing sentiment was already visible on the streets, with more people attending inspections, watching auctions and in some cases competing for properties. 'The Geelong market has been flat on price to two years now,' Mr Cortous said. 'We're starting to see that multiple buyers are back on properties now and we're selling through stock that's been sitting there. That's an indicator that the needle is moving.'
