Where is it most affordable to buy? - The Canberra Times

Crace... named one of the most affordable suburbs in the territory for buying a house.

Charnwood, Crace and Ngunnawal have been named the most affordable suburbs in the territory for buying a house.

The RP Data Spring Buyer’s Guide, issued on Wednesday, lists the three areas as having the lowest median value for a detached house out of 95 Canberra suburbs.

The guide has examined more than 8700 suburbs nationwide and shows 900 have a median value of less than $300,000.

But the ACT does not have a single suburb where the median value for a house is less than this amount.

The most affordable suburb of Charnwood records a median price of $385,852, followed by Crace at $392,308 and Ngunnawal at $421,261.

In contrast 2.5 per cent of suburbs in Sydney and 2 per cent in Melbourne have a median value for houses of less than $300,000.

About 15 per cent of Brisbane’s suburbs and 14 per cent of Adelaide’s suburbs offer buyers a median value of this amount.

RP Data research director Tim Lawless said Canberra had recorded strong cycles of growth and this was reflected in the lack of affordability compared to other capital city markets.

He said there was not great depth in the territory’s affordable housing market.

“Not everyone in Canberra is on a high wage and finding an affordable housing option locally can be a challenge,” Mr Lawless said.

He said while there were some pockets of affordable dwellings appearing on Canberra’s outskirts, for example in Gungahlin, “that is a very small proportion of the overall market”.

According to the report, which is based on the RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index, Canberra homes have increased in value by 3.7 per cent in the past year.

This was less than the combined capital cities increase of 5.5 per cent.

“Real estate values across Australia’s combined capital cities have risen by 8.7 per cent since the market reached a recent low point at the end of May last year,” the report said.

Sydney recorded the strongest capital gains in the past year out of all capital cities with the average home now worth 8 per cent more than a year ago.

Mr Lawless said he would expect the ACT’s capital gains to slow during the next 12 months.

A report issued by BIS Shrapnel on Tuesday predicted Canberra’s median house price would grow only 3 per cent during the next three years, the smallest growth in the country.

The Spring Buyer’s Guide lists the three most expensive Canberra suburbs as Griffith (median $1,205,922), Red Hill ($1,180,016) and Yarralumla ($1,159,227).

The most affordable units in Canberra were located in Curtin with a median value of $289,100 and Duffy with $296,131.