What will spring bring to Canberra's property market?

The Canberra property market is heading into its busiest time of the year, with the start of spring heralding more than blooming flowers and warm weather.

Despite the pandemic, experts and agents say the capital will march into the next three months with sales continuing and an increasing numbers of owners willing to list their homes.

“Canberra has been extraordinarily resilient during this period of COVID-19 and, in terms of capital city performance, Canberra is the stand-out market,” said Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell.

“The impact of the pandemic on Canberra hasn’t been as dramatic as what we’re seeing in Sydney and Melbourne but I do think there was a little bit of a delay in terms of property decisions during the peak of the virus in March and April,” Dr Powell said. 

New ACT listings ACT fell 1.8 per cent in autumn from the previous season, Domain figures showed. But listings then increased 5 per cent in winter, compared with three months earlier.

Source: Domain

“Normally, you’d see a lift in new listings from summer to autumn but we didn’t see that this year. That was an immediate reaction from COVID-19,” Dr Powell said.

“And, then winter came, which is traditionally the quietest time of the year in the industry so we’d usually see fewer new listings but that didn’t happen this year. New listings actually increased in winter whereas last year, it declined from the previous season.”

She said that moving into spring there might be a “blur between winter and spring” in terms of the level of sales and listings.

“Usually, there’s be a distinct difference between the two seasons, but I think it’ll be a little different this time around,” she said.

Brett Hayman, of Hayman Partners, hopes the winter selling season will flow into spring, describing the past three months as “exceptional”.

“Usually, winter is quiet both with new listings and buyer demand, but it seems that buyer demand only heightened in the last three months,” Mr Hayman said.

“In a normal winter season, about 5 per cent of the properties scheduled to go to auction, sell prior to auction. This winter, about 30 per cent of our auctioned properties sold prior and that just goes to show how strong the market is.”

He expects the high buyer appetite to trek through spring, but said buyers would be hard-pressed to find a home.

“I think there’ll be more listings in spring, as usual, but there won’t be an influx of properties like recent years because there are still some who are reluctant to sell during the pandemic,” Mr Hayman said.

“But, we’re only a few days in and we’ve had strong signs that it will be a busy season. We’ve done a number of appraisals already and have several properties that will list soon.”

Jacob Stanton, of Independent Tuggeranong, recently sold a four-bedroom property in Macarthur for $750,500, after only six days on the market.

In just two inspections, 92 groups came through, 35 contracts were handed out and 24 parties made an offer, with the property eventually selling more than $80,000 above the asking price, Mr Stanton said.

“That was the only home on the market in the suburb so buyers had more reason to try their luck for the keys,” he said.

“We’re certainly predicting more homes will come on the market. While it may not be similar to pre-pandemic spring numbers, sellers can be confident that Canberra is a strong market and they will achieve a good result.”

Mr Stanton attributed the high buyer demand to the record low interest rates and the capital’s strong workforce, “prompting more people to purchase”.

“Despite COVID-19, we’ve had record numbers at open homes in winter and I think that will continue,” he said.