A new study by online booking platform Muval has found new residents are filling the gap caused by a “mass exodus” from the city after the harsh restrictions in which the area fell silent for months, with inquiries about Melbourne making up 22 per cent of moving queries on the site. Muval spokesman Adam Coward said that while it could be up to a year before as many Aussies made the move to the city as before lockdown, fewer people were choosing to make the move interstate as industries slowly bounced back. “Outbound migration has slowed right down,” he said. “Hospitality and corporate workers who became out of work seem to be flocking back.” Media and communications co-ordinator Cerisse Denhardt, 35, said she moved to Darwin to be with her partner during Melbourne’s second lockdown, before returning last month because she could not see restrictions easing soon. “Living alone, and being a social person, I felt isolated and jilted by losing my freedom and independence,” she said. “I was working remotely from home, it made sense to … move temporarily.” Findings from the Australian Bureau of Statistics mirror the trends on Muval, with interstate departures dropping from 19,000 to 17,100 in September 2020. Mr Coward said Melbourne removalist inquiries showed 61 per cent more people were leaving Melbourne than returning at the height of the city’s hard lockdown in August 2020. As of January 31, that was down to 40 per cent.
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