Unpacking the data behind the State of the City report
Published on 30 September 2022
Launceston's rental market continues to be one of the tightest in the country as the city's population has peaked above 71,000 for the first time, according to new data published in the City of Launceston's latest State of the City report.
The latest iteration of the report has examined local, state and federal government data, as well as other sources, to understand trends in Launceston across a range of sectors and to collate information about Launceston in one convenient report.
Using data and reports from the 2021/22 financial year - including the most recent tranche of data from the 2021 Australian Census, the Council has examined Launceston specific data relating to population, employment, transport, the environment, digital inclusion, education, sport, recreation, culture, the arts, and development.
The report shows that Launceston's municipal population has increased 4.5 per cent since 2020, topping 71,906 while the city's rental vacancy rate has plummeted to just 0.8 per cent in the June 2022 quarter, according to figures from the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania.
In fact, Launceston's population has been steadily increasing since 2016, outperforming Australia as a whole.
The city's real estate market is proving to be a mixed bag, with Launceston's median house price rising to $585,000, however sales dropped 15.1 per cent over the quarter, according to the REIT.
The median rent on a three bedroom property is now $450 a week - 12 per cent higher than it was just a year ago.
The figures show that only two out of every 250 rental properties in the Launceston local government area was available to rent.
Overall, there are 31,274 private dwellings in the city, with an average of 2.3 people living in each household, with an average of 1.8 vehicles per residence (up from 1.7 in 2016).
Launceston's unemployment rate has decreased significantly from 8.5 per cent in March 2021 to 5.2 per cent. There were 1.27 jobs in 2020/21 for every working resident - meaning there were more jobs available than available workers.
Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said the pinch in the rental market meant it was proving difficult for people wanting to move to Launceston to take up job vacancies, with many would-be job seekers finding it near impossible to find a place to live.
"No one really expected Launceston's population to reach this figure so quickly - it certainly surprised Council to see it surpass the 71,000-mark this year," Mayor van Zetten said. "Given this, we know there's going to be added pressure on our housing market, which is why as a Council we have placed so much emphasis on regional land use planning and new residential land."
The local jobs breakdown shows that healthcare and social assistance makes up the greatest percentage in the overall workforce at 18.7 (up 0.2 per cent over previous figures), with retail trade in second at 11.4 per cent (up 0.3 per cent), education and training accounting for 10.3 per cent (down 0.2 per cent) and accommodation and food services at 8.2 per cent.
Full-time equivalent employment numbers were up 1362 overall between 2019/20 and 2020/21 - the largest increase being in professional, scientific and technical services (up 452 FTEs), followed by transport, postal and warehousing (up 442), accommodation and food services (up 377) and construction (up 172).
After a difficult two years due the COVID pandemic, an upsurge in shopfront figures have breathed life into Launceston's Central Activity District (CAD), much of which can be attributed to the Council's COVID Care and Recovery package.
According to the data, 1073 business were recorded in the CAD area, of which 914 were trading. Of those not trading, only 22 were classified as 'empty', with the remainder listed as under renovation, for sale or for lease.
There were almost 400 retail businesses in the CAD area, 110 of which were cafes, 56 hairdressing or beauty businesses, 44 retail/clothing and 34 finance.
Overall, 41,911 Launceston municipal residents were employed, which was up 3.3 per cent over the previous figures.
The region's Gross Regional Product continued its upward trend coming in at $5.08 billion - up 6.9 per cent.
Annual visitors to March 2022 hit just over 423,000 - down 23 per cent on the back of worldwide travel lockdowns due to COVID.
The health sector continued to be a significant economic driver for the region, worth $1.42 billion in total - up 7.6 per cent, while manufacturing dipped 1.3 per cent to $918 million, and retail - still recovering from the pandemic - dropped 5.8 per cent to $471 million during the recording period, although that figure is expected to bounce back significantly in the next release of data.
Not surprisingly, the construction industry was up 6.2 per cent to $882 million, while financial services jumped 12.6 per cent to $856 million.
The region's education attainment figures have also improved significantly since 2016.
Almost two-in-five people (39 per cent of the population) left high school at year 10 or below, which is down from 43.1 per cent in 2016.
Also, the number of people having completed year 12 or equivalent jumped 7.9 per cent to 47 per cent.
Mayor van Zetten said the report was designed to provide a snapshot to the Council, investors, residents and other tiers of government about how the municipality was performing, and which challenges and opportunities it would face in the future.
"The State of the City report informs the City of Launceston's Four Year Delivery Plan and contains a range of relevant and interesting data which allow us to track how our city is developing and plan well for the future," Mayor van Zetten said. "It pulls together information across a variety of sectors to give us a snapshot in time.
"The report helps Council prioritise initiatives in the future and aid in strategic decision-making for the municipality."
The City of Launceston's State of the City report can be viewed here: https://www.yourvoiceyourlaunceston.com.au/state-of-the-city-2022