Canberra house values rose in CoreLogic's May index, joining national property price recovery trend

Dwelling values - which combines houses and units - rose 0.4 per cent over the month, bringing the ACT's median property value to $825,053, CoreLogic's monthly home value index revealed.

Houses were the driving force behind the rise, increasing 0.6 per cent to $943,253. Canberra unit values fell marginally by 0.1 per cent with the median now sitting at $597,370.

However the quarterly trend was yet to record an uptick. Canberra dwelling values were down 0.1 per cent for the three months to the end of May.

While Canberra's increase was modest, the national home value index recorded its strongest monthly growth since November 2021.

National dwelling values increased 1.2 per cent, a sharp acceleration when compared to the previous monthly growth of 0.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent in March and April respectively.

Looking at the market broadly, CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the positive trend could be attributed to persistently low levels of housing stock running up against rising demand.

"With such a short supply of available housing stock, buyers are becoming more competitive and there's an element of FOMO creeping into the market," he said.

"Amid increased competition, auction clearance rates have trended higher, holding at 70 per cent or above over the past three weeks. For private treaty sales, homes are selling faster and with less vendor discounting."

Canberra, however, had recorded higher than average levels of new property listings, bucking the trend.

Putting the sold sticker on the sign outside his new apartment, Canberra buyer Michael Vella said he felt like it was a good time to buy an investment property.

The return of overseas migration and demand for rentals were some of the driving factors behind his choice to buy in Gungahlin.

"I just feel that there is potential for capital gain in this area, it's still developing, there's still a bit going on here so I just think that it's a good investment," he said.

Ankit Karwar of Mainstream Real Estate, who sold the property to Mr Vella, said stock levels were high in properties over the $1 million mark, but there were fewer homes at entry-level prices.

"In terms of the lower price properties, definitely the stock is moving fast," he said.

"[For] higher priced properties, we are not able to attract lots of buyers at the moment. Whereas on the lower price categories, there are still a lot of buyers."

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James Scott, sales agent at Verv Property, said "anxiety and confusion" among buyers due to mixed messages about the market meant ACT homes were sitting on the market for longer.

But he was confident the upward trend would continue for Canberra home values.

"Canberra has the luxury of having the highest average salary and a low unemployment rate resulting in a strong buyer community," he said.

"We've also noticed a number of new buyers entering the market who were inactive during the boom of the last three years.

"The market will come back up, and data shows it already is."

Canberra was the only capital city to record a fall in house rents for the 12 months to May, down 3.2 per cent. Meanwhile, Canberra unit rents rose 1.5 per cent over the 12-month period.

The rental yield for Canberra dwellings held firm at 4.1 per cent in May.

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