When Billie-Mae Kennedy and her partner Russell Buzby found out she was pregnant with their daughter, Aurelia, they decide to move from their Canberra apartment and look for something with more space in the suburbs.
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But when they compared their budget to what was on offer, it soon became clear they were going to have to reset their expectations.
"As a joke I just put in Braidwood and then we found this amazing house."
Soon they found themselves inspecting a refurbished 1859 grand manor with seven bedrooms just an hour's commute from work in Canberra.
"The drive is really great because through beautiful country side and there's like never any traffic, you can put on a podcast and have a nice drive."
And they're not alone. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistic 333 people with a usual residence of the Braidwood region have a place of work in the ACT, as tree-changers put off by the territory's property prices look further afield.
"After looking at the prices in Canberra and comparing it to Braidwood, I realised that for the price we wanted, we could have a much bigger block of land out in Braidwood and a unique house you really can't find in Canberra or anywhere," she said.
The approximately 150-year-old house sits on a 3700 square metre block of land and has seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, and space for three cars.
Domain data scientist Dr Nicola Powell said affordable housing is still available in the ACT if a compromise on property type and space is made.
"It can be a struggle for buyers eager to fulfil the Australian dream of owning a detached home," Dr Powell said.
"The median house price in Canberra edged over the $700,000 for the first time this year and prices continue to rise.
"Some buyers will be reassessing their lifestyle choices and opting to purchase in regional NSW."
She said with the median price in Braidwood significantly below Canberras it was easy to understand why some are considering a regional move.
According to the ABS the median house price in 2006 for the ACT was 386,000 while it was 200,000 in Braidwood. Flash forward 10 years and the median price jumped to 595,000 (2016) for the ACT and only 365,000 for Braidwood.
The ABS also found 56 current residents of the area lived in the ACT a year before the census was conducted.
Director of Ray White Braidwood Denver Shoemark, who has been an agent for almost 20 years, said he had noticed an increase in the population in the area, but he said the larger market was from Sydney.
"I'd say in the last five years the popularity has compounded as more and more buyers are discovering the convenience of Braidwood's location to the coast and the nation's capital," Mr Shoemark said.
"Braidwood has a collective community made up of all kinds of people with different interests, artist, farmers, business people and retirees to name a few."
Ms Kennedy said the tree change was a good decision for her family.
"There's lots of kids here and there's a lot of freedom and a lot of ground to run around," she said.
"We can have chickens and bees and a big garden with for the dog and all that sort of stuff without any of the hassle and worries of living in the city.
"We just wanted her to have clean healthy air and that kind of stuff."
