The Central Coast was the number one area to move to in the Greater Sydney region in 2023 and the highest ranked in the first national MuveRank.
Nowhere in Sydney made the national top 10 where inner Melbourne came in at number one, followed by the Tweed-Richmond area and Sunshine Coast.
In a first for Australia, a new interactive tool MuveRank provides an instant ranking for Australian areas based on how many people are moving in and out.
Offering an instant snapshot on internal migration, months in advance of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and years ahead of Census data, it’s hoped MuveRank will help governments better plan for future budgets and infrastructure by highlighting which towns are growing and shrinking now and in the near future.
It’s a collaboration between national online removalist booking platform Muval and leading population geographers from the University of Queensland.
In Greater Sydney, the Central Coast was the highest ranked area for net migration in 2023, sitting at number 18 nationally, up from number 40 in 2020 and number 54 in 2021, showing that more people moved to the Coast in 2023 than during the COVID years.
A look at the Coast’s inbound MuveRank – up from number 75 in 2021 to number 59 in 2023 – shows the upward trajectory is fuelled by a surge in inbound traffic, perhaps due to a combination of the region’s proximity to Sydney and Newcastle, as well as affordable housing.
Muval CEO James Morrell said MuveRank was a handy resource that offered a quick snapshot of movement in capital cities and local areas.
“We have long understood that our platform data had a wide range of valuable and tangible applications, and this Australian-first ranking enables us to see where Australians are moving now, providing leading signals on emerging population trends in cities, towns and regions,” Morrell said.
“MuveRank is a simple snapshot of internal movement that has profound implications for so many people from policymakers to property investors.
“It has been incredible to work with a University of Queensland researcher on something of this scale and to put our moving data to use for the benefit of communities right around Australia.”
MuveRank data will be released every quarter offering the most up-to-date statistical estimates on internal migration in Australia and the potential for short-term forecasts.
According to the 2023 MuveRank the top 10 local areas for net migration were: inner Melbourne; Richmond -Tweed NSW; Sunshine Coast; inner Perth; Coffs Harbour – Grafton; Cairns; Mid North Coast NSW; Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven NSW; inner-east Melbourne; and Wide Bay in Queensland.