Queensland reaps rewards of remote work boom

Pete Wargent, the co-founder at BuyersBuyers, has indicated that in many ways, the current migration trend is a U-turn on the patterns that were playing out pre-pandemic.

“In recent years, the strength in Melbourne’s jobs market had been attracting Australians from interstate as well as from overseas, and in record numbers,” Mr Wargent said, noting the same could be said for Sydney.  

“As the protracted lockdowns began to take hold, this internal migration trend went sharply into reverse, with south-east Queensland and Australia’s coastal regions among the main beneficiaries.” 

Following a lull through the 2008 financial crisis and beyond, interstate migration into Queensland has now hit its highest level in a decade-and-a-half.

BuyersBuyers noted that the net population inflow into Queensland was more than 30,000 for interstate moves for the first time since 2005, with coastal markets such as the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast reaping a large percentage of the rewards.

Mr Wargent said that while 2021 border restrictions have slowed the growth of interstate moves, there are still buyers looking to relocate to the sunshine state.

His business has noted increased requests from buyers trying to make judgment calls from afar. 

According to Mr Wargent, the migration trend is one he expects to continue even as borders open, with remote work opportunities seemingly here to stay.