Christine Jones, her husband Brendon and daughter Keira, moved to Wagga in 2015 and “the housing affordability was the main draw-card”. 

“We visited friends of ours in Wagga a few years ago and we liked the area,” Ms Jones said.

“When we saw there was a new estate I looked through the paper for the prices and it so much cheaper.”

Mr Jones, a sales glass manager, commutes to Sydney leaving every Monday and returning on Thursday evening.

“He was working here but for the money we wanted to get ahead, he decided to commute,” Ms Jones said. 

“There’s no way, being a young family, we could have had the house of our dreams and be able to afford it in Sydney.

“A house like this is going to be almost double the market and the fact we are on a decent size land, which you would be hard to find in Sydney, is great.”

They are also only a 15-minute drive from the centre of the city, which is another factor that you would be hard-pressed to find cheaply or reasonably in Sydney, Mrs Jones said. 

All of this combined with their new lifestyle, Ms Jones said she has no regrets about the move from the big city to Wagga. 

The research from PRD Nationwide highlights Wagga as one of the 12 most affordable regional locations for buyers and investors.

The selection criteria was based on affordability, property trends, investment, project development and unemployment rate. 

The research shows a growing economy, a low unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent in Wagga all contribute to a more affordable location.

Affordable property prices allow for buyers to easily pay mortgages and own properties outright regardless of having a lower average income.

Between 2006 and 2016, Wagga Wagga had respective annual growth levels of 6.3 per cent for houses and three percent for units.

Yields in Wagga Wagga continued to provide positive market conditions with yields remaining above four per cent since 2009. 

In December 2017 Wagga’s yields for houses were well above Sydney’s at 5.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively.