Join the great Sydney exodus

• Dancer
• 16 years ago
• Categories: International
• Tags: International

Has the prospect of a Kiwi winter made you think longingly of a move across the ditch? Well if Sydney was your destination you may want to think twice.

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald points out that:

“The latest Herald/Nielsen poll found 21 per cent of people surveyed are thinking of leaving Sydney, with 39 per cent identifying the city’s high cost of living as their reason.

Crucially, 22 per cent cited job opportunities elsewhere or a job transfer as their main reason for considering moving, while traffic congestion was the reason for 13 per cent.

Local business leader Patricia Forsythe (executive director of the NSW Chamber of Commerce) was ringing alarm bells very similar to the ones we are used to hearing here, saying ‘Sydney could not afford to lose a fifth of its workforce, particularly highly skilled workers.’

And the difficulties that families are facing with rising costs was also acknowledged:

Brian Redican, a senior economist with Macquarie Bank, said rising rents and mortgage stress were driving people out of Sydney. “Certainly the combination of high house prices as well as high interest rates and high petrol prices are putting considerable strain on household balance sheets,” he said.

And that’s despite their higher pay packets that we keep hearing about.