Regional housing stakeholders are urging governments to think long-term and systematically, to address rising housing shortages in the regions.
According to Regional Australia Institute external affairs director Laureta Wallace, a one size fits all approach, would not address the challenges.
"Local Government Associations are doing a lot of the heavy lifting to find solutions but we want to see state and federal governments have an in-depth understanding of the challenges in regional housing markets to produce a tailored approach to the issue," she said.
Ms Wallace believed a key focus area for governments was enabling infrastructure investment.
"More often than not, opening up land is not the problem, it is having the funds to develop it to market," she said.
RAI had core requests of the federal government to help build a sustainable future for those living or moving to the regions.
They want government to develop and deepen local rental markets to provide a bigger mix of housing, 40 per cent of the Housing Australia Future Fund to regional areas and discuss the barriers to improving regional housing shortages with all stakeholders in the regional housing chain.
"Not everyone moving to the regions wants a three bedroom or four bedroom home with a yard. There need to be other options for those who might want to just dip their toe in regional areas," Ms Wallace said.
There have been huge population increases in the regions, with a 12pc migration elevation from capital cities to regional locations in the quarterly Regional Movers Index.
There is also an increase in the number of millennials moving from cities.
But, Ms Wallace said regional house prices were rising at a faster rate than metropolitan areas, recording more than a 50pc increase from 2020-2023, compared with 30pc growth in metro areas.
"Unoccupied dwellings in regional areas are also on-par with metro numbers and tight rental markets are also not improving, particularly in SA," she said.
Unprecedented job vacancies in the regions is linked to regional housing shortages and the Tatiara Bordertown Solution is helping to address this challenge.
The area is building 15 workers style accommodation units and in Dubbo, NSW, a 15 story, 80 unit medium density housing solution is expected to improve job uptake in the region.
Independent living options are also being constructed in Victoria, to free up homes for larger families.
SA Regional Housing director Matt Hunt said it was important to define the core contributor to the housing crisis in regional areas.
"A lot of focus is going into finding the problem rather than discussing some of the solutions which are being created. This is not a bad thing but it needs to be a balanced approach," he said.
"While an undersupply of housing and availability is a problem across the country but it is different in terms of what is driving it. In regional SA, the problem is economics."
Mr Hunt believed despite land opening up on the market, if it cost half a million dollars to build a home on it, which is only valued at $300,000, the numbers don't match up.
"People won't do it, they are not building as a financial investor or building rental properties, so does not make financial sense to have that gap between cost of a build and market value," he said.
"We need to find ways to minimise the difference."
Vanessa Binks
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
