Is a structural shift in housing demand leading to a regional housing boom?

There has been a high level of interest as to whether the pandemic has spurred housing demand in regional markets of Australia. 

Housing market data is partially suggestive of this, especially across the largest capital cities. Rental value increases are positively correlated with greater distance from the CBD for the largest capital cities. The latest CoreLogic indices show growth across regional housing markets is higher than the capital cities in both quarterly and annual terms. 

The…