The cities Australians are flocking to to tackle the cost of living crisis – as high immigration fuels a housing hell and the population soars to 27 million

Australians are fleeing unaffordable big cities as record immigration increases housing pressure and the population exceeds 27 million.

Perth was Australia’s fastest growing major city in the year to March, with a particularly tight rental market.

But surprisingly, Melbourne came in second, disproving the theory that population growth is directly linked to rising property prices.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows Western Australia’s population grew by 3.1 percent in the past year.

This is well above the national average of 2.3 percent, as 10,039 people moved from the state to Western Australia, where mining is prevalent, with another 64,902 people moving here from overseas.

But Victoria, to everyone’s surprise, was the second fastest growing state, with an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent.

Melbourne receives a large proportion of overseas migration, but unlike Sydney there is not a large exodus to other states as there are still pockets of affordable housing.

During the year, a net total of almost 509,800 migrants moved to Australia, a record number. That is almost five times the net birth rate of 105,500.

The largest growth came from international student migration, which increased Australia’s population by 615,300 to 27.1 million.

Perth was Australia’s fastest growing major city in the year to March as Western Australia’s population grew by 3.1 percent

New South Wales received the largest share of overseas migrants, with 168,148 people moving there. This is a third of the total overseas inflow.

The large influx also makes Sydney increasingly unaffordable: 31,183 people left NSW during the year.

Victoria saw 151,740 overseas migrants settle, but the state had a small net immigration flow of 537.

Despite strong population growth, Melbourne’s average house price fell 1 per cent in the year to August after the Labor government introduced a flat $975 tax for investors.

Data from CoreLogic shows the average price of a house and apartment in Melbourne of $776,044 is now cheaper than the equivalent price in Brisbane ($875,040), Perth ($785,250) and Adelaide ($790,789).

Victoria’s capital city still has affordable suburbs, such as Frankston North, where the average house price is $589,361.

But to my surprise, Victoria was the second fastest growing state with an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent (pictured are houses in Melbourne)

New South Wales received the largest share of overseas migrants, with 168,148 moving there. The large influx is also making Sydney increasingly unaffordable, with 31,183 leaving NSW during the year

Queensland ranked third in terms of population growth, with an increase of 2.5 percent.

Are The interstate influx of 30,930 people is making Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine State increasingly unaffordable, almost mirroring the exodus from NSW.

The Sunshine State received 82,794 migrants from abroad.

Another surprise is that Adelaide remains one of Australia’s strongest housing markets, despite 1,686 people leaving South Australia this year.

The population growth in South Africa was 1.5 percent, which was considerably lower than the national average. There was a smaller inflow of foreigners of 26,048.

Despite this, Adelaide’s average house price rose 14.5 per cent in the year to August, outpacing Brisbane’s 14.1 per cent growth, despite south-east Queensland experiencing much stronger population growth.

South Australia’s population growth was better than Tasmania’s very weak 0.4 percent growth and the Northern Territory’s 0.8 percent expansion.

But it did drive the 1.8 percent population growth in the Australian Capital Territory.