Australia’s fastest growing suburbs have three cars on average per home

Australia’s fastest growing outer suburbs are among the nation’s most car dependent during a fuel price crisis, new data shows, sparking a warning about an economic slowdown being felt there first.

Postcodes in outer suburban Sydney and Melbourne had residential population growth approaching 20 per cent during the last financial year — and typically had more than three cars for every home in areas adding 4000 new people in just 12 months.

Double-digit growth areas of Perth and Brisbane also had more cars per home, as areas further away from reliable public transport and the big city centres.

More expensive fuel is likely to hit the economies of these outer suburbs first as higher fuel prices forces locals to cut back on non-essential spending, KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley told The Nightly.

“It will have kind of an impact on the local economy, which means there will be less jobs locally,” he said.

“There’s a bit of an overlay with those suburbs being car dependent but also, they often have workers who are in retail, lots of transport workers in those growth areas, they’ll be feeling it not just from their own hip pocket nerve but also from the industry they are working in.

“They’ll be feeling the squeeze and cutting back as well — a double-whammy for those locations.”

These newer suburbs are also more likely to have up to three generations living under one roof, many of them being migrants.

“These are pretty big houses — the average bedroom count is four or five,” Mr Rawnsley said.

“You kind of have big households but then also, because public transport’s so lacking, you need that extra car.”

Plumpton, in Melbourne’s west, had a particularly high residential population growth of 19.7 per cent with 4064 more people moving in during the last financial year, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealed.

The growth pace was also almost 10 times greater than Melbourne’s 2 per cent population increase.

This suburb, 40km from the city centre, is also particularly car dependent with Census figures showing an average of 3.5 cars per dwelling — almost double the national average of 1.8.

The story was similar at Nelson, in north-west Sydney’s Hills District, where the population grew by 17.4 per cent or 3911 new people, in a suburb with an average of 3.4 cars for each home.

The population here grew by more than 12 times greater Sydney’s overall 1.4 per cent increase.

Box Hill and neighbouring Nelson gained 3500 people from another part of Australia in the year to June 30 — making it the biggest recipient of net internal migration in a State where 33,282 people left during the last financial year in search of more affordable housing and less congestion.

In outer Brisbane’s Logan area, Greenbank’s population grew by 14 per cent and had an average of 2.7 vehicles per house or unit.

Henley Brook in Perth’s east saw its population grow by 12 per cent in a suburb with an average of 2.7 cars per property.

Motorists in capital cities were paying an average of $2.52 a litre for unleaded and $3.04 a litre for diesel, based on Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reporting before the halving of fuel excise to 26.3 cents a litre.

But when it came to the biggest growth, an area near public transport that is less car dependent had the biggest growth.

The Port Melbourne Industrial area with high-rise units had the biggest population growth overall of 22.6 per cent.

This area near Melbourne’s city centre had an average of just 1.2 cars per dwelling — well below the national average.

But its overall residential population of 3148 is only a fraction of the Fraser Rise-Plumpton area’s 24,739 residents 33-37km away.

The 581 new people moving in was only a fraction of the 4000 people moving into the fastest-growing parts of Melbourne’s west.

When it came to population density, Melbourne’s inner city still has the most people with 43,300 per square kilometre in the central business district and 24,300 at nearby South Bank.

Sydney’s Haymarket had 22,900 people per square kilometre and gained 1300 overseas migrants on a net basis.

At least when it comes to foreign arrivals, the likes of international students are moving to areas that are less car dependent.

“In some places, the international migrants come close to the inner city to start with — international students come in, stay near the universities; if you’re an international worker, you probably land close to the city as you get established,” Mr Rawnsley said.

“Over time, you sort of move further out as you get established.”