Muval, the national online moving company booking platform, has shared its latest migration data showing where Australians are choosing to live in 2023.

The data shows which places have stayed "hot" since the peak of the pandemic, and how rising interest rates and the rent crisis are playing their part in where we choose to live.

New South Wales

Byron Bay - still hot

It has been described as Australia's 'powerhouse'.

With celebrity occupancy and an idyllic, relaxed lifestyle, Byron Bay is one of the hottest real estate markets in 2020 and 2021, with people from Melbourne and Sydney moving north during the blockade.

Although prices in Byron Bay have fallen slightly in mid-2022, Byron Bay is well and truly back in the driver's seat as one of the most popular places to live.

"Interest in moving to Byron has increased 46% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to online moving enquiries," said James Morrell, CEO of Muval.

"When rates began to rise in May 2022, we saw requests to 'move to' Byron drop to the lowest level since the peak of the pandemic. Since then, however, it has been a powerhouse and continues to rise.

"While Melbourneites were the main movers during the Covidien period, residents of Brisbane and Sydney are now on par with those of Melbourne as metro residents exit the city for the sea.

"Residents from the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are also strong feeder markets as they swap Queensland's coastal towns for northern NSW alternatives."

According to PropTrack, the median home price in Byron Bay is $2.278 billion. That's a 23 percent drop in the last 12 months.

Newcastle - heating up

Newcastle appears to be on the cusp of becoming a hot real estate market, with interest in moving to the city up 90 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to Muval.

"Newcastle has been a growing market for a few years, but recently there has been a lot of interest from Sydney people moving into Newcastle and an increase in activity in Hobart," Mr. Morrell said.

He said "peak traffic" was starting to occur in any area between Sydney and Newcastle, including Gosford and Woy Woy on the Central Coast, and Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour on the Central North Coast.

Victoria

Melbourne - from not so hot to hot

Melbourne's popularity is on the rise after a sharp decline during the pandemic.

"With a quarter of all inbound major city moving inquiries in May, Melbourne retains its position as Australia's number one moving city for the 15th consecutive month, suggesting the city is the place to be in the midst of a cost of living crisis, in stark contrast to Covidien," Mr Morell said.

Sydney residents make up the bulk of those moving south, followed by Brisbane and Perth residents, while traffic moving out of Melbourne is easing.

"The city is hovering around positive net migration, according to movement inquiries," Mr Morell said.

"It is currently at -15% and was last in positive territory before the pandemic, at 3% in January 2020. During the pandemic, it hit a negative net migration low of -61 percent in August 2020."

The Muval data also shows an increase in migration to Ballarat, particularly from interstate.

Queensland

Gold Coast - not so hot

Interest in moving to the Gold Coast is waning, with inbound moving enquiries down 16 per cent between January and May this year, according to Muval data.

"While the region is still in positive net migration (50% in May), the influx we have seen in recent years, particularly the pandemic of 540% positive net migration seen in 2021, is subsiding and there is now a growing interest in moving out," said Mr. Morel.

"There has been a 44% increase in enquiries to move out of the Gold Coast in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year."

Gold Coast residents are looking to move to cities and small towns, with some moving back to larger cities and others seeking more affordable waterfront locations such as the Central Coast, Port Macquarie and Newcastle.

Sunshine Coast - still hot

The Sunshine Coast remains a "hot" place to live in Australia.

"Inbound moving enquiries are up 20 per cent in the first half of the year (January to May) compared to the same period last year, while outbound enquiries are still relatively low, although there has been some modest growth," Mr Morell said.

"In an interesting moving trend, residents from Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart and Geelong are starting to show increasing interest in coastal areas."

The main moves are coming from Brisbane, followed by Sydney.

Brisbane - not so hot

Brisbane is the second most popular city to live in Australia.

However, the river city appears to be losing residents to Melbourne and Perth.

Muval is also seeing more requests to move from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton and Toowoomba as "rising rents and house prices continue to put pressure on city residents this year".

"The city has seen a record number of out-migration enquiries, accounting for 19 per cent of all out-migration metros in May," Mr Morell said.

"With so many residents abandoning the city, Brisbane's net migration rate was +5% in May, hovering near negative numbers and a far cry from the net migration highs of 2020 and 2021, when the city was a hot hotspot and in high demand during the pandemic."

CAIRNS - Not

According to Muval, Cairns recorded a pandemic high of 200% positive net migration in 2021, continuing strongly in 2022.

Now the humidity is dropping in this coastal city, with out-migration inquiries up 50 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

Movers are returning to cities such as Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

"There is still traffic from these cities, mainly Brisbane, as cashing in on what could be some of the last bargains for city buyers snapped up, helping to maintain net migration in May," Mr Morell said.

Looking ahead, he said Townsville was seeing high rates of in-migration and out-migration as the number of people moving to Toowoomba, Bundaberg and Rockhampton increased.

Western Australia

Perth - hot

Perth remains one of Australia's hottest urban markets.

"Eighteen percent of all major city moves in May were to Perth as residents fled higher cost of living pressures in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane," Mr Morell said.

He said Perth recorded more people wanting to move there than Sydney for the fourth month in a row.

"While Perth still ranks behind Melbourne (25%) and Brisbane (22%) as the most popular city to move to, the western capital saw just 8% of moves out in May, highlighting that more people are moving in rather than out, which could lead to a tightening of the housing market."