Confident market ready for a stellar spring as Canberra real estate shows resilience in August

Canberra real estate showed staying power on the tail-end of winter, with steady growth during a traditionally lacklustre time of year.

The Cotality Home Value Index, released on Monday, shows property values in the ACT rose by 0.4% in August to $872,957, awarding Canberra the third highest median dwelling price in the country behind Sydney and Brisbane.

Houses were the stronger performer for the month, with a 0.6% increase, tipping the median value for Canberra houses over the $1 million mark. Units and apartments took a hit with prices slipping -0.2% to a median of $594,813.

Windrose Property Principal and Sales Agent Sam McGregor said August’s growth was considerable, particularly in the depths of winter, and showed motivated buyers were out in force despite low stock levels and competitive offers.

“It doesn’t surprise me that August was slower, but 0.4% growth in the slowest month of the year is pretty significant,” Sam said.

“There’s a lot of people waiting to purchase in spring so the buyer sentiment in August is traditionally low – they want to see what comes to market in spring when there is usually a whole lot of new stock.

“They want to have purchases locked down at the end of spring because they want to make sure they’re definitely having Christmas lunch in their new house.”

Data from SQM Research shows there were 4362 properties on the market in Canberra in August, including 1916 homes listed for less than 30 days.

Sam said the shortage of listings was encouraging greater competition and price pressure as buyer sentiment improved due to interest rate cuts fuelling borrowing capacity.

“These figures are driven by the interest rate cuts and greater buyer confidence that now is a good time to make a purchase. They want to be ahead of the curve,” Sam said.

“We have definitely passed the bottom of the market and generally the buyers now realise that and know that if there was a bargain to be had at any point, it’s probably not now.

“Spring is going to be a strong market in Canberra and all across Australia. There’s going to be price pressure on real estate right across the country for the rest of the year.”

Sam said a lot of vendors were preparing to launch their homes to market having ridden out the winter months, ready for a bumper spring season.

“The winners from a buyer’s perspective will be people who make a decisive purchase early in spring. We saw people last year having to pick from leftover stock late in the season,” he said.

“I think vendors will be very happy because for the first time in two springs at least, there is a lot of confidence around so it’s nice to see a functional market where supply is an issue, but buyers’ access to finance is getting a little easier. Hopefully, that means we will have a good run until the end of the year.”

Cotality Australia’s Research Director Tim Lawless said vendors were in a strong position heading into spring.

“Once again we are seeing a clear mismatch between available supply and demonstrated demand placing upwards pressure on housing values,” Tim said.

“The annual trend in estimated home sales is up 2% on last year and tracking almost 4% above the previous five-year average. At the same time, advertised supply levels remain about -20% below average for this time of the year.

“We are starting to see the usual start of spring upswing in new listings coming to market, but from a low base. A pick up in the flow of stock coming to market through spring will be good news for buyers who generally have limited choice at the moment.”