The increase will see the Orana and Far West regions perform better than towns in the Central West, according to the Fourth Quarter 2018 Housing Forecast Report which shows a growth of just 0.6 per cent in 2019 and a rise of 2.1 per cent in 2020 for the other areas. 

Moody’s Analytics, which used CoreLogic data for its forecast, said the far west and orana data was on the back of a 4.5 per cent growth in 2018 and a 0.3 per cent negative growth in 2017 in the Orana region.

Real estate agents in Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo say they might not see the same rises this year, but believe the regional markets are still going strong.

Orana agent Bob Berry said prices have not changed in Dubbo in the past 18 months. 

The current median price for a house is $361,000 and for a unit it is $275,000 in Dubbo.

“The Dubbo market is well-placed to maintain its current price level because of the economic activities and the state government infrastructure spending,” Mr Berry said. 

“There is not an oversupply of property and the rental market is very stable. 

“So I would look for a year of stability.”

Mr Berry, however, criticised the national media and people who prepare housing forecast reports. 

“The national media is obsessed with the housing market,” Mr Berry said. 

“We are hearing a description of the market plunging, but in most cases the description is coming from those who are not actually in the market or are real estate agents. 

“There is no one Australian market. CoreLogic came out with a report saying the Australian housing market has fallen 4.5 per cent. That is clearly an incorrect statement because there is no single Australian market.”

Mr Berry said Dubbo and other regional markets are not registering the same falls as Sydney because they didn’t record the same growth.

In Bathurst, Raine and Horne director Grant Maskill-Dowton said they had seen an inflated market because there had been a lot of investors in the past two years. 

“We had an overflow of investors into Bathurst in the past two years as Sydney prices were going through the roof,” Mr Maskill-Dowton said. 

“It probably pushed prices a little higher than the average housing growth we have traditionally seen in Bathurst.

“Now the prices have come down in Sydney, it has put the Bathurst market back to what it was prior.

”We are back to what I call a traditional Bathurst market.” 

Mr Maskill-Dowton said there are enough buyers in the market and this will keep prices steady.

Orange-based real estate agents are optimistic about the property market.

They expect house prices to grow around 2 to 3 per cent this year on the back of 8.9 per cent growth in the last quarter. 

Century 21 Orange director of sales, Andrew Vogler, said the factors that pushed the market last year are still there and many people still want to relocate from Sydney.

“Orange is an affordable place and rental yield is good,” Mr Vogler said.

“We may not have the same growth we had last year, but it is likely to be better than other Central West markets, including Bathurst and Dubbo.

“This is because various parties have done a wonderful job in promoting Orange as a food and wine destination in the past 10 to 15 years.”

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