Top 5 Canberra suburbs with highest price growth for houses and units

If you’re on the hunt for a new home or you’re looking for your next investment property in Canberra, you’re probably wondering where the smart buys and best-performing suburbs are.

According to the latest House Price Report, Dickson experienced the biggest jump in price growth for units and Franklin for houses.

The data is based on suburbs with more than 50 sales in either houses or units over the 12 months to March 2020. Only 42 suburbs fit into this category for houses and 23 for units. 

Units in Dickson have come out on top with the highest median price growth year-on-year out of all Canberra suburbs. According to the figures, unit prices increased by 15 per cent in the Inner North suburb to $542,000.

This was followed by Coombs in Weston Creek with an increase of 9.3 per cent year-on-year to $530,000 and Griffith in the Inner South, up 8.9 per cent year-on-year to $481,750.

When looking over a five-year period, units in Coombs recorded the highest growth of 61.9 per cent. This was followed by Dickson with a growth of 45.5 per cent over five years.

Domain senior research analyst Dr Nicola Powell attributed the growth in Dickson units to the suburb’s “rejuvenation”, with a wealth of new developments being built in the area and the light rail interchange, which was within walking distance from the Dickson shopping centre.

“Dickson units performed quite strongly compared to other units … there’s a number of units that have seen a slight decrease but Dickson has maintained that growth,” Dr Powell said.

Josh Morrissey of Hive Property said the figures were a reflection of what he was seeing in the suburb, noting that the growth was being driven by first-home buyers and downsizers.

“First-home buyers no longer have to pay stamp duty and interest rates are at the lowest we’ve ever seen … even though we’re in a pandemic, first-home buyers are still pushing to get one foot in the door,” he said.

“It’s their first purchase and they’re getting a good product that’s close to the city centre … which is a big factor to why the younger demographic tends to buy there.

“A lot of downsizers are also purchasing more units … their kids have moved out of their big family homes and now they want to move into something smaller, in a good area, of good quality and at a reasonable price.”

As for houses, Franklin in Gungahlin had the highest growth at 12 per cent year-on-year to $767,500; followed closely by the Tuggeranong suburbs of Kambah, up 11.5 per cent year-on-year to $619,000, and Theodore, up 9 per cent to $580,000.

Luton Properties Gungahlin managing director Nick Paine said buyers looking in Franklin were seasoned buyers who were able to afford around the suburb median.

“The houses in Franklin are fairly expensive so it’s generally not first-home buyers who are house hunting there,” Mr Paine said.

“The people who are buying into the suburb have secure jobs and haven’t really felt the punch of COVID-19.”

According to Mr Paine, Franklin is desirable because it’s close to public transport, in particular the light rail, and the Gungahlin Town Centre, nature walking trails and parks.

“It’s sitting in a really great spot … and the houses on offer in Franklin are quality homes, some of them are sitting on a hill with great views so it’s quite a nice family suburb,” he said.

Dr Powell added that Canberrans were drawn to fairly new suburbs and “Gungahlin, as a region, has always ticked that box”.

Dr Powell said while other Gungahlin suburbs had seen very minor growth or a slight decline in house prices, including Palmerston, Moncrieff and Forde, Franklin had “bucked that trend and had double-digit growth”.

When looking at Kambah, the second best-performing suburb for houses, Dr Powell said it was a hot spot for first-home buyers looking for more established homes on bigger blocks of land and within close proximity to local shops.

“What Kambah offers is its connectivity to the Woden Town Centre and the CBD … but what it also offers is affordability,” she said.

“What you can get in Kambah is more land at a reasonable price than what you could get in, say, Gungahlin. You could buy an older home and renovate it as time goes on.”

When comparing against figures across five years, for houses Narrabundah in the Inner South had the highest growth at 45.2 per cent to $980,000.

Florey in Belconnen and Ainslie in the Inner North trailed behind with a five-year growth of 45 per cent each to $652,500 and $1.022 million, respectively.