A study by national property market researcher Propertyology identified 40 regional locations which are likely to be targeted by Baby Boomers, because “their poor investment and superannuation balances means that housing affordability will be a major priority” as they head into retirement. 

It suggests that “one way or another, around 90 per cent of this generation will have some reliance on a government-funded pension, because they didn’t have their employer contributing towards superannuation until the back end of their working lives”.

It also suggests that over the next 20 years, millions of Baby Boomers will be looking to relocate to regional areas for a change of pace, which in turn will have a significant impact on regional property markets, where the average house price is still less than $400,000.

The study lists places like Tamworth, Armidale, Dubbo, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie in NSW and Cairns and Toowoomba in Queensland, as among those most likely to benefit from this trend.

Of course, this is all about encouraging people to invest in regional and rural areas, but it is food for thought isn’t it, when you think about where people are going to live in the future?

The study also found that on an average annual capital growth rate over the past 15 years, many regional cities actually outperformed capital cities, “with industries like agriculture, tourism, and advanced manufacturing well positioned to prosper from the Asian Century.” 

So there’s plenty of potential.

So if, as this group suggests, we’re going to see an influx of Australians to regional areas, surely governments at all levels need to back this up, with transport infrastructure (roads and rail), health care services and the like.

Because it’s all very well to say we live in a beautiful part of the world, but if you can’t maintain a standard of living or health, why on earth would you stay?