Canberra - prices are off historical highs but rents continue to climb
Despite being one of the strongest markets in Australia over the past two years , Canberra has not been immune to rapid rises in interest rates and a change in sentiment towards property . After hitting a $ 1 million median , it ’ s now sitting just under $ 985,000 . It did however pick up over the past two months , increasing from $ 980,000 . The Canberra market keenly reflects what ’ s happening in the Australian property market at the moment - interest rates may be rising but population growth is picking up again and we have a construction crisis impacting the level of new development .
While price growth will likely stall until we have more certainty as to when interest rates will peak , rents are likely to continue to increase . Right now , house rents have come back a little bit but unit rents are increasing . Despite high levels of new development through the pandemic , it ’ s never been more expensive to rent an apartment . This is great news for investors , but is more challenging for renters .
At a suburb level , O ’ Malley houses top the list for rental growth , followed by houses in Forrest and units in Yarralumla . There are only eight suburbs in Canberra where rents are falling and topping the list is Deakin , where it ’ s a bit more affordable to rent a home compared with last year .
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