News roundup: Young Australians move out as inner-cities age, and other headlines

For PropertyGuru’s news roundup, deteriorating housing affordability is shifting the character of Australia’s capital cities, as a smaller share of young people choose to live in inner-city suburbs. In other headlines, the tourist section of the Phuket Provincial Court is set to resume operations given the rising number of cases involving visitors to the province, while flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced more new and revived international flights.

Young Australians forced outwards as inner-cities age

While the profiles of cities naturally change over time due to development, prices, and the desirability of different regions, analysis of Census data shows inner-ring areas have been ageing at a rapid rate, and trends are starting to affect where children live, according to a report in PropTrack.

In 2021, there was a smaller share of young Australians aged between 19 and 35 years living within two to 10 kilometres from the central business districts (CBDs) compared to ten years earlier.

These inner-city suburbs have traditionally been thought of as student and young-professional havens. With a proliferation of share houses and smaller homes, well located to universities and city offices, many previous generations have started their independent housing journeys in these locations.

But that seems to be changing. Depending on the city, there are pockets of the inner-city with noticeably lower shares of younger Australians after just one decade.

Overall, there are more people of all ages living in the cities than in 2011, but the profile of different age groups has an impact on the changing character of different regions.

Cities have changed differently over the period. Apartment development in Brisbane and Melbourne CBDs has boosted the share of young Australians living in the centre of those cities.

By contrast, in Sydney the share of younger Australians living in the CBD has fallen since the early 2000s.

But a common trend is the smaller share of young Australians living in inner-city suburbs two to eight kilometres from the CBD.

Phuket court to reopen tourist section

Bangkok Post reports that the Phuket Provincial Court will reopen its tourist section to help visitors to the province settle court cases following a recent surge in litigation linked to tourists.

Phuket Provincial Court’s Kriangsak Rodpunshoo said the large number of Thai and foreign tourists in Phuket has caused a surge in criminal and civil cases in which tourists are involved. “The rise in cases is affecting tourists’ confidence in their personal safety and the potential risks to their property, and is also having an effect on tourism in general across the nation,” said Mr. Kriangsak.

The section first opened on 24th September, 2017, but closed due to the pandemic.

Philippine flag carrier PAL to launch nonstop flights to Seattle, revive Japan routes

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Tuesday announced the launch of nonstop flights between Manila and Seattle in the United States starting 2nd October.

As reported by the Philippine News Agency, PAL president Stanley Ng said the airline chose to launch Seattle for the long-haul flight but is also eyeing to launch flights in Asian destinations.

The new route, Ng said, will give the Philippines the chance to promote its beautiful islands, both to leisure and business travellers.

“We’re also exploring some European countries. It’s not easy to launch a new destination without the support of the other side, as well as support from the government,” he added.

Seattle is PAL’s sixth US destination, along with Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Honolulu, and Guam. PAL will use the Boeing 777-300ER for the Seattle flights.

The PAL chief also bared that the airline will revive its Cebu-Osaka and Manila-Sapporo routes this year.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].