Canberra and other major Australian cities are experiencing historically high house prices with never-before-seen buyer demand.
The Domain Buyer Demand Indicator report by Chief of Research and Economics Dr Nicola Powell has been released today revealing that national property demand reached its highest recorded peak in March of this year.
The shocking report reveals unseasonably high demand with houses and units combined being 19 per cent above the previous three years’ winter average.
The ACT’s buyer demand remains one of the highest in the country giving Canberrans’ greater buying power which is boosting housing demand and prices.
Dr Powell said the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the dramatic spike, as Australians’ perspectives on housing has changed.
“We have different priorities now as a result of the pandemic, people spend more time in their homes and use them differently than they did prior,” she said.
“Australians tend to be saving more now through lockdowns which is another indicator of COVID-19’s influence over the market.”
New listings haven’t been able to keep pace with the buyer demand and the strongest price growth has been recorded in the city.
Although there is record low interest rates and affordable mortgage repayments, housing deposits are growing too fast to keep pace, which remains the biggest barrier for first-time buyers.
“House price increases are not sustainable for anyone,” Dr Powell said.
“With rapid and concentrated house price growth, it makes it much harder to leap to the next bracket.”
Canberra’s lifestyle has been attributed to the high number of people relocating to the ACT and the high demand is expected to continue when the current lockdown restrictions are eased.
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