‘It’s the ripple effect’: The new Canberra regions with a million-dollar price tag

The median house prices in Weston Creek and Molonglo Valley have climbed to seven figures after new data showed the newest million-dollar regions soared by more than 40 per cent in the space of just 12 months.

The regions now join the likes of the Inner North, Woden Valley and Inner South in the million-dollar club, according to the Domain House Price Report for the December quarter.

The median house price in the Inner South itself soared in the last year to reach a new record of $2 million, an increase of 8.1 per cent over the quarter and up 43.1 per cent year-on-year.

In Molonglo Valley, the median now sits at $1,272,500, an increase of 21.5 per cent over the quarter and 51.5 per cent year-on-year — the strongest quarterly and yearly increase of all Canberra regions.

Weston Creek, on the other hand, now has a median of $1,074,000, up 16.1 per cent over the quarter, and 42.2 per cent year-on-year.

“At the end of 2020, we only had two regions [the Inner North and Inner South] that had a million-dollar median, and in the space of a year, that has extended out to three more regions,” said Domain chief of research and economics Nicola Powell.

“But it wasn’t just an uplift in a handful of regions, there was a broad increase across every single region in the housing market.

“What this means is that there’s a broad spectrum of buyers who are active. There’s a lack of stock, clearly, but also a shortage of land releases. We need to see more homes being built that people want to buy and live in.”

Real estate agent Jonny Warren of Jonny Warren Properties said he wasn’t surprised by the new million-dollar regions, noting that it was “a ripple effect of what happens in a hot market”.

“People who get priced out of the Inner North, Inner South and the Woden Valley will naturally look at the next best thing, and Weston Creek and Molonglo Valley are directly next to each other so it’s the flow of things, really,” he said.

Buying a property has become more of a dream than a reality for Tuggeranong resident Ashlee Marques.

Ms Marques, who lives with her five-year-old son Elijah Marques-Jackson and puppy Koda, has been renting for the past seven years and, with Canberra’s median house rent price at a record high, the family is ready to settle on something they can call their own.

“I started taking my home-owning dreams seriously about 18 months ago and have been saving stringently since then,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the mortgage deposit I was aiming for at that time has now more than doubled due to the housing market skyrocketing. It’s been quite disheartening to feel the goalposts move further from my reach each month. 

“At this stage, achieving a deposit will require another 18 months of strict budgeting – and that’s dependent on the housing market stabilising.”

The regions of Tuggeranong and Belconnen are usually referred to as the “affordable heartlands” of the capital, however, the rising house prices there have stumped many property hunters.

The data showed the median house price in the Tuggeranong region now sits at $870,000, an increase of 8.8 per cent over the quarter, and 31.8 per cent year-on-year. For Belconnen, the median is $885,000, up 10.6 per cent over the quarter and 31.1 per cent year-on-year.

“This [data] has been most discouraging. It feels as if there isn’t an affordable option anymore,” Ms Marques says. “I personally do not feel comfortable being in over $800,00 worth of mortgage debt to live in a small home in the outer suburbs. The reward does not feel worth the risk.”

For units, the median price in Belconnen, Gungahlin, Inner South and Woden Valley all recorded their highest positions since Domain records began, Dr Powell said.

“We’ve certainly seen house prices outform those of units and that’s been occurring for some time but some of that demand for houses will be deflected to the unit market, purely because of that affordability aspect,” she said.

“We have some areas at record-high unit prices so I think it’s going to be interesting what will play out over 2022 and 2023.”