In last week’s edition we discussed Australia surpassing the 25 million population milestone. It must be the time for milestones, as the fastest growing city, Melbourne, reached five million people yesterday.
Last year Melbourne added 125,424 people, the largest annual increase of any city in Australia’s history. Melbourne’s growth in the past five years has been the equivalent of adding a ‘Darwin population’ to Melbourne each year. Based on current growth, Melbourne will add 132,000 to the population this year, again setting a record.
Melbourne is closing in on Sydney, at current rates it is projected that in 2025, both Sydney and Melbourne will hit the six million marks. Melbourne is then likely to overtake Sydney in 2026, becoming the countries most populous city. Projections estimate that by 2037, Melbourne will reach eight million people, while Sydney will have to wait until 2040 to reach this milestone.
The graph below shows the flip in population growth which has occurred between Sydney and Melbourne.
Victoria accounts for more than a third (37%) of Australia’s annual population growth. Uniquely, the source of growth is spread evenly across net overseas migration, natural increase and net interstate migration. Only Queensland is gaining more people from other states than Victoria.
New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia are losing more people than they are gaining from other states.
Population growth is the foundation of property demand. We adopt a simple approach to property investing as we assist our clients to purchase good property, in good locations that they can hold for the long term. As Melbourne’s population continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, properties in the city’s most desirable suburbs are likely to be subject to significant levels of demand.
