Canberra’s real estate growth rates may have eased in recent months, but the national capital has managed to maintain one of the highest median prices in the country.
Latest CoreLogic data shows the Canberra market continued to make positive ground after months of falls, recording 0.4% growth in June.
Canberra sustained the second greatest dip in property values in the past year, dropping by 8.8%. Hobart recorded the largest fall in the 12-month period with 12.7%, while Brisbane took a hit of 8.2%.
But despite the market slowdown, Canberra has maintained the second highest median dwelling value in the country with $830,217 – second only to Sydney at $1.073 million.
At the other end of the spectrum, Darwin’s median property value is sitting at $492,081 and Perth at $588,454.
Other states have seen varying changes in dwelling values in the past year, with Sydney and Melbourne seeing drops around 5%, Darwin prices falling by 1%, a stable market in Adelaide with zero growth and Perth the only market to experience growth – with a boost of 2.5%.
MARQ Licensed Agent Rachel Anasson said while Canberra real estate had been more subdued than the frenetic times 18 months ago, there was still significant movement with vendors cashing out as interest rate hikes bite.
“The general chit chat is yes, the Canberra market is not as heated as it once was, and the median price has definitely dropped significantly from the $1 million we were at 18 months ago,” Rachel said.
“We are now finding that some people are trying to consolidate loans. If they have investments they can offload, some are seeing value in selling investments and injecting money into their primary residence.”
Some sellers were also looking at more affordable options interstate, including in Perth and on the New South Wales’ South Coast.
“We have seen a few of our vendors recently sell up from Canberra and move to other states for a range of reasons including work, personal reasons and affordability,” she said.
“Some other states offer greater affordability. We have had a few vendors move over to Western Australia for work but also for a change of lifestyle.
“Looking at the median value of a house in Perth, you’re looking at $588,000 whereas in Canberra you’re looking at $830,000 so it is a big of a difference.
“We had one vendor purchase a beautiful four bedroom home only metres away from the beach in Perth and sold up her little townhouse here in Casey and was able to buy that outright.”
On the flipside, Sydneysiders are looking to Canberra for more affordable opportunities.
“We do have the Sydney market look at Canberra as an option because obviously we are more affordable than the Sydney price point and we are still fairly close to Sydney,” Rachel said.
Rachel expected there to be an increase in stock levels, with more properties hitting the market for the traditional spring selling season, particularly those under $800,000.
“Supply has been low in the past quarter but we are starting to gear up for the spring rush so we are going to start to see an influx of new stock coming to market – and that will dictate where prices go for the next quarter,” she said.
“We are still achieving some really good prices under that million dollar mark in Canberra – anything from the median of around $830,000 or less there is huge demand at that level.
“And that’s the sweet spot for borrowing capacity at the moment. Anything north of $1 million is a bit harder to obtain unless you have a really significant deposit or cash backing.
“At the end of the day, the Canberra market is still doing well. Our city has job security and when you have the majority of the population working for government, I think we are a fortunate city where we have quite a bit of wealth behind us.”