‘Buying power is so much higher in Tasmania,’ real estate agent Stephen Dullens says.
Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP
For Annetta Mallon, the choice was simple: the increasingly busy, crowded streets of the Central Coast or the clean air, beaches and relaxed lifestyle of the Apple Isle. “We looked in Queensland, we looked in parts of NSW, but we fell in love with Tasmania,” she says of her decision to relocate with her husband, Peter, and their dog, Cully.
They are not alone. Tasmania, which for many years suffered from very low population growth, has seen that trend reverse in recent years with more people now coming in than leaving for the past five years. Touting its outstanding natural beauty, fine produce and expanding employment prospects amid the work-from-home revolution, Tasmania hopes to grow its current population of around 530,000 to 650,000 by the middle of the century, an increase of 22%.