Sydney sellers cash out and move to Queensland

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“First comes the price rises, and then the exodus” is what demographer Bernard Salt from KPMG is expecting to see.

Sydney as property owners cash in on recent price rises by selling up and moving to a lifestyle location such as the Gold Coast, northern NSW or the Southern Highlands.

The effect could also be seen in Melbourne although property prices in the Victorian capital are under pressure from the troubles in the manufacturing sector and a much bigger pipeline of new properties boosting supply.

Salt says although there's no evidence yet of dramatic increases in demand in lifestyle locations on the back of last year's stunning 15% rise in median prices in Australia's most expensive city, it's potentially coming.

"There's a one to two year lag time," says Salt, and when "Sydney was booming in the late 1990s the Gold Coast didn't really kick until 2001, 2002.

Historically this has been the case and it is inevitable that history will prevail.