The Domain House Price Report released on Thursday shows the average house prices for local government areas across the region in June 2018 and how much they have grown in the past year.

While Wellington might be the cheapest place to live across the region – the town experienced the biggest growth during the past 12 months with a 16.8 per cent jump in the median cost of buying a home – Orange also experienced a substantial jump in average prices, rising by 12.5 per cent in one year, from $360,000 to $405,000.

In May this year, Domain data scientist Dr Nicola Powell said people re-locating from Sydney was a key reason for Orange’s growth.

“I think it is a huge driver. It has been those people from other destinations that is driving demand,” she said.

“A lot of people are being drawn to the area because of the lifestyle. Sydney is having negative growth. The median is still above a million dollars for a house so, for a young family, it is fairly unobtainable.”

Among the other Central West locations to experience an increase in the average cost of a home were Forbes which was up 8.4 per cent to $275,000, Young jumped 7.7 per cent to $280,000, and Cowra where prices increased by 6.5 per cent to $255,000.

By comparison, Bathurst’s average house price increased by four per cent, Dubbo by 5.4 per cent, Mudgee by 3.2 per cent and Oberon by 5.8 per cent.

All other locations increased, except for Parkes which dropped by 3 percent – from $267,800 to $260,000.

Bathurst topped this list for the Central West’s most expensive median house price at $429,000, followed by Orange at $405,000, Mudgee at $386,000 and Dubbo at $370,000.

This was followed Oberon ($317,500), Blayney ($285,000), Young ($280,000), Forbes ($275,000), Parkes ($260,000), Cowra ($255,000), Narromine ($232,000) and Wellington ($186,250).

The Domain data also revealed a shrinking Sydney house market, with prices falling 1.4 per cent over the June quarter, reaching a median of $1,144,217.