With Christmas just around the corner, Canberra's property market is slowing

If you’re still on the hunt for a new home or entering the property market, you better be quick because with Christmas just around the corner, the market will be slowing down, leaving you with limited options. 

Chris Antos of Laing and Simmons commercial property said the last auction for the year would be around the weekend before Christmas, and the market would slow considerably in the coming weeks. 

“Buyers simply don’t have the time to browse the market during the festive season,” Mr Antos said. 

He suggested buyers might also have better luck over the coming weeks because owners wanting to sell “are desperate and the competition will be weak”.

“There is a high probability you will be able to bag yourself a bargain,” he said.

“Owners know if they don’t sell now, they won’t see much action until after February so rather than risk holding their property on the market another two to three months, they are more likely to negotiate at a passed in auction or do a good deal leading up to Christmas.”

Mr Antos said the auction market was strong with high clearance rates and should pick up in the last week of January and early February. This year saw Canberra achieve an auction record price of $5,750,000. 

Auctioneer and managing director of LJ Hooker Kippax Sandra Masters said 2017 had been a buoyant year, with people still predominantly choosing to sell via auction.

“Whilst auction scares some, it really is the most transparent way of ensuring you are paying fair market value in a moving market,” Ms Masters said. 

Mr Antos suggested people wanting to put their property on the market wait until next year. 

“With the mass exodus of Canberrans over the Christmas break the potential for interested buyers to attend your auction is lessened,” he said.

“Additionally, people tend to be a bit more cash strapped over this period and are not in the right mind set to be buying property.”

But Ms Masters said buyer enquiry was still very strong towards the end of the year.

“People are still looking to buy before Christmas or to be ready for the school year so coming on the market prior to Christmas will give you two bites of the selling cherry, so to speak,” she said.

“There will likely be a lot of homes coming on the market in February so it is always good to beat the rush and sell in isolation not competition.”

CBRE ACT managing director Michael Heather said 2017 was a great year for the Canberra commercial property market with the major trend being the dominance of foreign capital.

“Total transactions have totalled $659 million year-to-date across the office, retail, industrial and hotel property sectors,” Mr Heather said.

“Although this is still shy of the total record of $911 million recorded in 2016, foreign investment flows into Canberra this year have accounted for $515 million of total transaction volume in 2017.

“This is the largest foreign net inflow into Canberra ever recorded by CBRE.”

Mr Heather said the commercial property market also take a break over the holidays, but said the current market conditions were favourable for sellers, meaning it could be a shorter rest than normal. 

A 1669 square-metre block in Griffith and a four-bedroom in Bonython will be one of the last residential auctions of the year. Both will go under the hammer on Saturday.