Like many Australians you've probably dreamed about owning the roof over your head, perhaps even some land.
New data from the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) shows the quickest way to do that is to move to regional Australia, even taking into account a wage decrease from moving out of a big city.
RAI's new report, Regional Population Growth: Are We Ready?, found that many home owners in state capitals were paying double the mortgage of their regional city counterparts, but had a similar average wage said RAI co-chief executive officer Dr Kim Houghton.
Find out where in Australia you can pay off the mortgage fastest, using this MOVE graphic below. Story continues after.
"The new research has shown that many workers living in our outer city suburbs could be financially better off if they moved to regional Australia," Dr Houghton said.
RAI co-CEO Liz Ritchie said while the average outer suburban Sydney worker earned $80,088, their regional city counterpart had a wage of slightly less at $71,281.
"Across the country, the difference between the two groups are small and generally less than 10 per cent," Ms Ritchie said.
"However, the stark contrast emerges when house prices are compared. In Melbourne, the average home in the suburbs costs $776,276, while in Victoria's regional centres, the figure is less than half, at $344,365."
RAI unveiled a new tool, MOVE, which lets potential home owners find out which areas in Australia give them the best chance of paying off their mortgage faster.
By combining the average wage of a particular wage Local Government Area (LGA) with the average house price, people can quickly find out where they could pay off their mortgage the fastest.
"This new research really poses a significant question to families in the future - will you be financially better off setting up a life in regional Australia? We know the answer could be yes," Ms Ritchie said.
MOVE shows that in the inner-Sydney LGA of Randwick it'd take an average of 85 years to pay the mortgage off, with the median house price sitting at $2,148,061 and the average annual income at $90,000 but move just three hours west to Bathurst and it'll take just 25 years to own your own home.
In the Bathurst LGA the median house price is $428,307 with the average annual income at $62,100.
Head seven hours out of Sydney to Coonamble and it'll take just 10 years to buy a house at a median price of $428,307 and with an average annual income of $62,100.
Head north into Queensland and in the Noosa LGA it takes 45 years to pay off a house with the median price at $747,842 and annual incomes at $59,884.
Head north west from Brisbane for 17 hours and you'll end up in the Flinders LGA where it takes an average of just seven years to pay off a house.
The median house price is $78,033 and the average annual income is $42,382.
If you are prepared to head 20 hours away from Brisbane, out to Mount Isa, then it'll take just 10 years with median house prices at $253,635 and incomes of around $86K.
Down south in the inner-Melbourne LGA of Monash it'll take 64 years with median house prices at $1,134,319 and incomes of $63,742.
But head west to West Wimmera and it'll take just nine years.
It's a similar story in Adelaide where a house in the Hills will set you back a median price $592,350 with an average annual income of $73,177 and take you 29 years to pay off.
But head to the Southern Mallee and it'll take just 8 years at a median cost of $95,596.
Dr Houghton said Australia's population was set to grow by up to 19 million by 2056, with Sydney and Melbourne to hit megacity status in the next few decades.
"Brisbane and Perth will grow to the size of Sydney and Melbourne today," Dr Houghton said.
"But if we continue with our current geographic patterns of settlement, most of that population will end up in the outer suburbs."
In Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, the outer suburban population is forecast to more than double. In Brisbane, the outer suburbs population level will nearly triple.
Ms Ritchie said rapid urban population growth created challenges already clear to residents in outer suburbs, with high house prices paid by average wages and rising commute distances already emerging as key points in our big Australia debate.
Detailed in the new report, scenario modelling found that under the business as usual base case, commute distances in outer Sydney and Melbourne would increase by around 60pc and close to 25pc in outer Brisbane and Perth.
"Under the alternative distributed population scenario, where population growth is shared more evenly between outer suburbs and regional centres, commute distances for Sydney would rise by just 15pc, and Melbourne 40pc," Ms Ritchie said.
Kim Chappell
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
