The housing crisis is a "moment in history like no other" says the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) in its report into the nation's residential infrastructure.
The RAI's latest report states in the decade up to 2020 regional Australia's population grew an average of 76,500 people per year.
It comes amid housing crisis fears across the country, and businesses escaping from the pandemic's grasp.
Executive Dean of University of South Australia's Business School, Professor Andrew Beer, said regional communities were "very, very desperate".
"Housing problems in regional Australia are really acute and this is a problem that has been building for a considerable time," Dr Beer said.
The report analysed almost 400 local government areas and ranked the housing markets into six categories.
Fifty-four LGAs were ranked 1 (stalled) or 2 (volatile), with the report saying they "could be considered as 'failed' or stagnant housing markets".
Some of the LGAs ranked as stalled were:
- Hay, NSW
- Broken Hill, NSW
- Buloke, VIC
- Longreach, Qld
- Port Augusta, SA
- Kalgoorlie, WA
"Market failure means that the process of buying and selling simply doesn't work," Dr Beer said.
He said it could also be because of people moving away or land being zoned for other purposes such as preserving wetlands or farming operations.
Dr Beer said he did not think current programs and policies were dealing with housing issues sufficiently.
"Some of the programs do try and address the challenges of regional Australia, but they're too tightly targeted and they don't really pay attention to how we build more houses," he said.
What are the solutions?
One possible solution to the crisis originated from overseas.
"In many Scandinavian countries, the government will provide a guarantee of finance, that it provides a top-up to someone borrowing a loan," Dr Beer said.
"We know that people in regional Australia have lower income, more variable incomes than those in the capital cities."
He said it was also up to local and state governments.
"They need to invest in the development of new land, they need to invest in social housing, and they need to make sure there's enough land zoned for development," Dr Beer said.
What happens if the issue isn't fixed?
If the situation continues to deteriorate, Mr Beer said regional Australia would suffer.
"A lot of those businesses doing so well in regional Australia won't have the workforce they need to continue to grow and continue to be successful," he said.
"They might actually be forced into capital cities where they can get their workforce.
"And finally what we'll also see is a lot of people forced into private rentals as cashed-up buyers from the cities go and buy property in successful places such as Mudgee and Wagga and rent them out on Airbnb."
Dr Beer said the upcoming federal election would give regional Australia an opportunity "to have its voice heard".
"Regional Australia wants policies that will add to supply … that will make sure everyone in the community has a housing option available to them," he said.
