'Hobart's booming' say young business people as they move to the island state for its affordability
Updated
It appears young people are starting to return to Tasmania, with housing affordability boosting the population and driving economic growth.
That is the view of Commsec chief economist Craig James, who said Tasmania's annual population growth was now just under 0.5 of per cent.
"More people are coming to the state and fewer are leaving which creates growth in terms of housing finance and the job market — so it provides momentum to the economy," Mr James said.
Kobi Ruzicka and Sarah Fitzsimmons are among the latest additions to the Tasmanian population, moving from Melbourne to Hobart six months ago to open a bar and restaurant.
"Melbourne is kind of unattainable, there's no way that two young people could afford to set up a new business of any quality that wasn't like a shoe box." Mr Ruzicka said.
Ms Fitzsimmons said the cost of living was appealing too, as well as work-life balance.
She has met a number of young people in a similar position and former Tasmanians returning to live in the state.
"A lot of our friends in the industry down here have said up until a few years ago, you could only go so far in your career here before you had to move to the mainland because there wasn't enough opportunity here," she said.
"But now people are starting to come back and find their roots again, and have said it's a viable business option now."
Jay Braslin moved back to Tasmania six months ago to open a barber shop in the Hobart suburb of Lutana.
He said business was much better than he expected it would be and he was booked out two weeks in advance.
"Since I've come back there's new cafes, new bars, what I've noticed is Hobart's booming."
The Treasurer Peter Gutwein toured the barber shop on Monday, and was treated to a cut throat shave.
He said it was a great sign that Tasmanians were moving home and investing in the state.
"Here we are at Bob's Your Uncle Barber Shop, Jay is a young Tasmanian that left and has now come back to the state," he said
"And by all account his business is going very well. That's the new Tasmania."
'Tasmania's time to shine'
Tasmania has been labelled the "big improver" in the latest CommSec report, a quarterly score card rating the eight states and territories on a range of economic factors.
Tasmania is now ranked fourth overall, improving from seventh place.
"More people are coming to the state and fewer are leaving which creates growth in terms of housing finance and the job market — so it provides momentum to the economy," Mr James said.
He said Tasmania had faced economic challenges in recent years, but was now the big improver.
"Now it's Tasmania's time to shine — housing affordability is boosting the population," he said.
The state is still lagging when it comes to economic growth, but Mr James said it would take time to catch up.
"The strong growth we're seeing takes time to show through."
Mr Gutwein said the report confirmed the state's "economic revival".
"This is the best result for Tasmania in five years," he said.
"Tasmania's annual population growth is now just under 0.5 of per cent, under Labor and the Greens, people were leaving the state in droves.
"In addition, the report finds that annual growth on home lending is the strongest in the country, at 8.9 per cent."
Job figures still a worry: Bacon
Labor finance spokesman Scott Bacon said Tasmania still had significant economic challenges.
"Labor will always welcome positive economic news and there are positive signs contained in the latest CommSec report," Mr Bacon said.
"An increased demand for housing is encouraging as well as growth in the retail sector.
"But the report comes just days after the latest employment figures reveal we've lost 600 full-time jobs in the last month."
Topics: economic-trends, states-and-territories, tas
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