People owning houses in Orange valued at more than $730,000 or units worth more than $396,000 can consider themselves members of an elite national club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Property group Corelogic has examined property values across Australia and defined what it calls the 'Two Percenters' - houses and units in the 98th percentile of values in each council area.
The national average value needed to qualify is $2.16 million for a house.
That is boosted by Sydney's two per cent level of $3.21 million and the national highest figure of Woollahra in the eastern suburbs where you need to have a property worth more than $8.16 million to qualify to be a Two Percenter.
The Orange figure is higher than Bathurst ($709,171) and Dubbo ($723,896) but lower than Lithgow ($794,894).
However, they are well below the region's elite council area, Cabonne, where it will cost you $922,665 to buy a top two per cent property.
According to property website Domain there are currently about 50 houses, but just two units, for sale in Orange that would put its buyers into the elite club.
One Agency Orange real estate licensee Ash Brown said the figures showed the strength of the local market.
"Although that [$730,000 in Orange] does seem quite high we seem to be reaching that price fairly often and above it," he said.
"Years ago a $1 million sale was quite rare but now every month or so we are getting close to or hitting that mark.
"People are coming from Sydney with a lot more collateral as a deposit.
"Employment in Orange has become more lucrative. We are seeing a lot more professionals in Orange."
Mr Brown said the high unit price was probably being driven by retirees looking to live close to the CBD.
"The baby boomers generation are down-sizing, just in the last year or two. They are looking for something with high-end features and close to town so they can walk to the CBD," he said.
Mr Brown said Cabonne's higher limit was "skewed" by sales of large acreage and big property. "That would put the average up," he said.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...