‘Sydney is just getting to be too hard': The top NSW tree-change towns
Dubbo, Port Macquarie-Hastings and Shoalhaven ranked as the best regional areas in the state for both affordability and future upside, according to a new report by PRD Real Estate, Smart Moves: Regional Edition 2025.
In the report, which covers 10 regional markets, PRD Real Estate applied five criteria to identify the 'most promising' areas for either home buyers or investors. They are affordability, sales and growth, rental yields, future development and employment strength.
All three NSW regional markets have entry-level house prices well below Sydney's median, which was $1,645,444 in the December quarter on PRD data. By comparison, median house prices were $532,000 in Dubbo, $845,000 in Port Macquarie-Hastings and $820,000 in Shoalhaven, in 2024.
PRD Real Estate chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardisamo said the cost of living was making it too difficult for people to stay in Sydney.
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'You have to hustle harder,' she said. 'In Sydney, the cost of living is getting very high.
'And so the question is, why should we do all of that? When we can have a house, and it's half the price of Sydney, and we're still able to find a job in that area.
'It's a total uproot, a total change of scenery because Sydney is just getting to be too hard.'
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