Andrew Wilson: Canberra house prices surge over autumn

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The Canberra housing market has continued its recent strong performance, reporting another quarter of surging house prices.

Latest Domain Group data reveals that Canberra recorded a median house price of $733,786 over the three months ending May.

Canberra houses prices have increased by 5.8 per cent since the December quarter last year and are 11.4 per cent higher than recorded over the May quarter last year. The local market has outperformed Sydney over the same period this year, where house price growth has increased by 5 per cent since December.

Woden Valley has been the top Canberra regional performer over the past year with an increase of 12.3 per cent with a May quarter median of $820,000. Next highest for annual house price growth was Tuggeranong with 12.1 per cent and a median of $566,150, followed by Belconnen up 10.9 per cent to $582,000, Gungahlin up 10.5 per cent to $673,000, Canberra Central up 4.6 per cent to $960,000 and Weston Creek with a May quarter median house price of $654,500 and an annual increase of just 0.8 per cent.

Although Canberra house prices are booming, growth in unit prices remains subdued with a May quarter median of $427,348, just 0.9 per cent higher since December and 1.8 per cent above that recorded over the May quarter last year.

By contrast, Sydney unit prices have increased strongly by 4.3 per cent this year so far for an annual rise of 8.2 per cent.

The Bureau of Statistics confirms the recent strength of Canberra house price growth, with the latest established house index for the March quarter increasing by 2.8 per cent over the quarter and up by 10.6 per cent over the year.

Similarly, the bureau reported weaker results for the Canberra unit market over the March quarter, with a decline in the index of 0.2 per cent over the quarter and an increase of 2.9 per cent compared with the March quarter last year.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group chief economist. Twitter@DocAndrewWilson Join on LinkedIn and Facebook at MyHousingMarket.