Orange cafe owners Nick and Ruby Gleeson moved from Sydney’s north shore in 2015 and haven’t regretted it.

“Orange had the appeal. In Sydney we knew about the foodie culture, the wine culture of Orange,” Mr Gleeson of Factory Espresso said.

He said lower housing prices and lack of traffic were beneficial but it was the sense of community, friendly locals and all the facilities Orange had to offer that made it desirable.

“People from Sydney, they know Orange has a lot of quality facilities to offer.”

Mrs Gleeson said it was vital the city worked together to promote itself.

“It’s important that we all do well as a community,” she said.

“For us Orange is great.”

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed

that the number of jobs in regional NSW had risen by 54,600 in the past 20 months.

“Our regions are prosperous and I would argue just as attractive as capital cities,” Mr Barilaro said.

Job advertisements are also up in the Central West by around 2 per cent (674 jobs) in the past year.

The government has introduced a web portal to help people locate regional jobs.

Education professionals, mobile plant operators, carers and aides, farm, forestry and garden workers, farmers and automotive engineers are in demand in the country.

But jobs in business, human resources, marketing, arts, the media and management fell by up to three per cent in the past year.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said people struggling to buy in Sydney should move to the country.

“Houses are much cheaper in Tamworth, houses are much cheaper in Armidale,” he told ABC Radio National. 

He was commenting on a study that showed Sydney was the world’s second least affordable place to buy.

The price of many basic three-bedroom houses in Western Sydney now exceeds $1 million.

However, a review of the Domain property guide in the Central Western Daily showed that the average price of the 35 properties open for inspection in Orange on Saturday is $359,000.

They range from $170,000-$180,000 for a one-bedroom townhouse to $700,000-$750,000 for a four bedroom home.