Demand for property in Canberra is rising.
Forget Sydney and Melbourne, Canberra is now the rising star in Australia’s booming property market as it records the biggest price increases whilst other cities start to slow down.
Housing prices in Australia’s capital rose by 3.7% in the three months leading up to May 2010, a rise that overtook the previous leading cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Median house prices for Canberra are now around $508,500, that’s £282,491.
Most of Australia’s major cities reported an increase in prices up to May 2010 apart from Perth, which fell by 2.1%. However increases are evening out and the hope is that the housing market will now stabilise due to higher interest rates.
Demand for housing in Canberra is so high that potential buyers are now camping out in freezing temperatures just to secure blocks of land. Pressure is now on the ACT government to step in after developers were forced to give people queuing, tickets so that they could return home.
Investors and international students are being blamed for pushing prices up, just as they are blamed for million dollar houses in Sydney. Investors are making the most of rising prices and students from Asia are having accommodation bought for them by their parents. One-bedroomed flats in the region have risen from around $315,000 to $420,000 in the past year.
However signs that the market is slowing down are evident as auction sales report a decline in sales, especially in Sydney, once the king in the rising property market. Some sceptics are warning of a crash in the property market whilst others are predicting that prices will even out and the market will stabilise.
The government have increased grants to first-time buyers to try and encourage them to gain a foothold on the ladder, whilst strict rules on property buying from foreign investors have been reintroduced. Higher interest rates are also helping to calm down the property boom.
If you are planning to emigrate to Australia, read our guide to the Australian property market first.
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