Census 2016: Canberrans shifting from houses to units as more people rent

Canberrans are shifting from houses to townhouses and units amid surging property prices, 2016 census data shows.

The number of residents renting has also jumped with almost a third of ACT homes leased.

The proportion of occupied houses has dropped by almost 6 percentage points, making up 67 per cent of residential properties over the five years since the 2011 census.

The shift has occurred amid surging house prices. Since the census, Canberra’s median house price has surpassed the $700,000-mark.

The data also correlates with a shift from three-bedroom-plus homes to one and two-bedroom dwellings.

The average home has about three bedrooms and houses 2.5 people.

• Related: Census 2016 – Renting population growing
• Related: Canberra’s median house price surpasses $700,000
• Related: Gungahlin region leads house price growth

Zac and Maddie Bendtsen had their hearts set on a freestanding home but a townhouse in Coombs became the obvious choice when they started house hunting.

They moved into their new home in January 2016.

“We were looking at normal houses, we both grew up in bigger houses and we were steadfast that we were not buying a townhouse,” Mr Bendtsen said.

“When we saw this we realised we could pay less, live closer to the city and still fit the dog. It was a bit of a no brainer.

“It has three bedrooms, two storeys, a backyard, double lock-up garage – everything we were looking for in a normal house.”

The 2016 census data, released on Tuesday, also reveals that 31.8 per cent of ACT properties are leased – up from 30.6 in 2011.

In contrast, the proportion of homes owned with a mortgage has fallen slightly to make up 38.4 per cent of occupied private dwellings.

The proportion of homes owned outright has also fallen to 27 per cent in the ACT (from 28.4 per cent).

Despite the small drop in mortgagees in the territory, median mortgage repayments have actually become slightly cheaper.

Canberra’s median mortgage repayments were $2058 a month as of the 2016 census, about $100 cheaper than the $2167 median repayment recorded in 2011.

Suburb by suburb

Red Hill, Lawson and Deakin are home to the territory’s most expensive mortgages with median monthly repayments of $3000, according to 2016 census data.

Yarralumla and Forrest round out the top five with repayments of $2700 and $2620 respectively.

Monthly repayments are cheapest in Symonston at $962, followed by Greenway at $1652 and Belconnen at $1733 – two suburbs with a growing number of units.

Suburbs where residents are paying repayments that mirror the ACT median ($2058) are Dunlop and Flynn.

Oaks Estate is home to the cheapest median weekly rent at $165, followed by Symonston at $205 and Ainslie at $275.

In contrast, Canberrans in O’Malley are forking out a staggering $941 in median weekly rent. Next is Forde at $510, followed by the city at $500.

Your average Canberra renter forks out $380.

Suburbs with this median weekly rental figure include Crace, Downer, Griffith, Gungahlin, Mckellar, Narrabundah, Ngunnawal, O’Connor, Palmerston and Torrens.