Across regional Australia - and especially here on the South Coast - the property market is on fire. Record prices and fast turnaround sales are being reported from Wollongong down to the Victorian border.
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In Batemans Bay, properties are being listed on a Thursday and sold by the following Tuesday. In Milton Ulladulla, the market is the best it's been in 41 years. Property is so hot right now, we've heard of agents hammering in For Sale signs with the Sold sticker already on them.
It's being driven by cheap money - interest rates at an all time low and every indication they'll stay that way for at least a couple of years - and an exodus from the big cities as people realise they can work just as effectively from home as they can from a city office.
The pandemic has achieved what successive governments have tried and failed to do; it's made decentralisation a reality.
For years, the regions have cried out for more growth and the economic benefit that brings. It seems now that it's arrived, which is great news if it can be sustained without too much dislocation of the population already here.
In the short term, there is pain and that's being experienced now, with renters finding it very difficult to find and afford a place to call home. First home buyers are also struggling to compete with cashed up newcomers from the city who can easily price them out of contention.
Pressures on infrastructure and strains on services are being felt too. Roads designed years ago for much less traffic are being choked up. GPs are full up with patients on their books. And soon, the schools will be groaning at the seams as more families put down roots in our part of paradise.
It's a challenge but one worth squaring up to. With growth comes opportunity. Our anaemic town centres will likely see revival, our kids will get jobs. Growing up does hurt but is worth it in the end.