How Canberra house prices of 1998 compare to 2018

The year is 1998. Canberra’s population is about 308,000 and Canberra’s average house price is $155,500.

Fast forward 20 years and a lot has changed.

Our population has surpassed 400,000 and Canberra’s median house price of $753,516 is almost five times that of 1998.

Over the years, the property market in Canberra has experienced immense change as families grow, lifestyles change and the urban landscape shifts.

So how have Canberra’s median prices changed in the past 20 years?

Most affordable suburbs 1998*

If you were looking for affordable options in the ACT in the late ’90s, you would most likely find yourself searching in the Belconnen region.

Dubbed Canberra’s “affordable heartland” for a reason, the north side dominated the most affordable suburbs with an impressive eight listed in the top 10.

The most affordable suburb in 1998 was Dunlop, where the median price was $92,000, followed closely by Charnwood at $97,000.

Belconnen came in at third position with a median of $103,800. In fourth place, Banks’ median of $105,975 made it the only suburb in the Tuggeranong region to place in the top 10.

Rounding out the top five was Scullin with a median of $110,000.

Holt, Page, Higgins and Latham enter the top 10 with prices of $111,750, $112,250, $115,000 and $115,750 respectively.

Coming in at 10th place was Ngunnawal with a median of $115,950.

Most affordable suburbs 2018**

Just half of Canberra’s most affordable suburbs in 1998 feature in the 2018 top 10.

While Dunlop was the most affordable suburb in 1998, it didn’t even crack the top 10 in 2018, with a median of $587,500.

In 2018, Canberra’s “affordable heartland” still features in the top 10 but, unlike 20 years ago, it is no longer dominating.

The suburb of Belconnen remains an affordable place with the ACT’s cheapest median of $431,000. It’s followed by Oaks Estate with a median house price of $439,000.

Charnwood’s median of $460,000 saw it come in at third place, followed by Ngunnawal’s median of $480,000.

Macgregor and Richardson tie at fifth place with a median of $485,000.

In seventh place is Holt, sitting at $492,000, followed by Banks at $496,000. Gordon and Phillip round out the top 10 with a median of $532,500.

Most expensive suburbs 1998

In 1998, the most expensive suburb median was $540,000 in Forrest, more than $200,000 less than Canberra’s overall median house price in 2018.

Griffith and Reid tied for second most expensive suburb with a median of $290,000, followed by Red Hill’s median of $284,000.

In fifth place was Isaacs which had a median of $276,250.

Yarralumla and Deakin continued the inner south’s dominance with medians of $250,000 and $243,000 respectively.

Campbell’s median of $239,000 and Turner’s median of $235,000 ensured the inner north was represented in the top 10.

Chapman came in at 10th place with a median of $223,000.

Most expensive suburbs 2018

Besides prices, not much has changed at the top end of the market, with eight of the top 10 suburbs in 1998 featuring in the 2018 top 10.

Isaacs and Chapman were the two suburbs to not feature again. The 2018 median house price of Isaacs is $775,000 and Chapman has a median of $800,000.

Forrest was the most expensive suburb in 1998 and has managed to retain that position over the past 20 years. It blew away the competition in both 1998 and 2018, almost doubling the median of its closest competitor, Reid.

Forrest’s median house price is currently $2,882,500 and it is tipped to surpass the $3 million mark this year.

Reid also retained its position as the second most expensive median at $1,450,000.

Yarralumla jumped up in the list to third position with a median of $1,430,000, followed by Griffith at $1,427,000 and Red Hill at $1,403,000.

O’Malley represents Woden Valley in sixth place with a median of $1,397,500. Followed by Turner, Deakin and Campbell at $1,332,500, $1,240,000 and $1,210,000 respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 is O’Connor with a median of $1,090,000.

*data based on the median house price of Canberra suburbs as of March 31, 1998 

** data based on the median house price of Canberra suburbs as of March 31, 2018