Canberra’s housing market has continued its solid performance into 2017, with buyer and seller activity clearly on the rise, according to new data from the Domain Group.

The median asking price for a house in Canberra surged 4.7% over the March quarter, reaching a new record high of $589,000. Asking prices for houses in Canberra were 10.1% higher than the $535,000 recorded over the March quarter in 2016.

Asking prices for units in Canberra also increased over the March quarter, rising by 1.2% to $399,000, an annual increase of 2%.

The Domain Group noted similarly positive results were noted for newly listed houses and units. Newly listed houses increased by 75 over the March quarter to 1,178 compared to the same period in 2016—an increase of 6.8%.

Newly listed units also increased sharply over the March quarter compared to the same period in 2016, up 17.8% to 629. This uptick reflected the recent surge in new apartment development in the ACT.

Meanwhile, the average days on the market for a privately sold house has fallen from 66 days to 63 days over the past year, with an average discount rate still low at just 4.4% over the March quarter.   

“The average selling time for a privately sold unit in Canberra over the March quarter remained significantly higher than houses at 105 days but similar to the 106 recorded over the March quarter, 2016,” said Andrew Wilson, chief economist for the Domain Group. “The average discount rate for privately sold units in Canberra has, however, fallen over the past year down from 4.8 per cent to 4.3 per cent.”

Low interest rates played a key role in strengthening Canberra’s housing market over the past year, said Wilson.

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