Canberra's house values are beginning to soften in line with apartments, new data has revealed.
After holding value for a longer period than apartments, freestanding house vales in Canberra overall were down 0.7 per cent over the last quarter, according to CoreLogic's November home value index.
The executive research director at CoreLogic, Tim Lawless, said this trend was set to continue.
Dwelling values, which covers both houses and apartments, in Weston Creek and Woden Valley regions have been the hardest hit, both down 2.1 per cent over the quarter to November.
Belconnen was not far behind, with a 1.4 per cent downturn.
Only the regions of Molonglo and Tuggeranong saw an uptick in dwelling values across the period, at 0.7 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.
While these trends may look like bad news for sellers and a potential win for buyers, industry professionals say the reality is more nuanced.
Bri Williams is a selling agent and auctioneer at LJ Hooker Gungahlin.
She said though softer conditions looked bad for sellers at the outset, they actually gave way to well-maintained listings "going gangbusters".
"They're not unicorns. They're just really well-presented and really well-looked after houses breaking the mold of [a softening market]," she said.
A smaller pool of both sellers and buyers - often because of reduced borrowing capacity - could make for more competition for quality listings.
But it took considerable work, Ms Williams said.
"I think people think we can still just put a sign board up and a house will still sell itself," she said. "That's just not the case anymore."
Ms Williams advised sellers to consider auctions as a way of making their property shine during softer market conditions.
Most auctions so far this spring had fewer registered bidders than the year prior, she said, but the bidders who were turning up came with fight in them.
Auctions were also an ideal way for buyers with limited borrowing capacity to purchase in the November market, she said.
"They are the most transparent way to buy a home now," she said, which gave people a way to be clear on their budgets.
Mr Lawless said for those who could service a loan, the end of 2024 could be an ideal time to purchase.
He didn't think a cut in interest rates, which is predicted to happen early next year, would be the silver bullet for heightened real estate conditions that many expect it to be.
"If interest rates come down, that gives people more confidence to make decisions like buying and selling a home, but I think regulators will be quite cautious when rates come down," he said.
"They will be watching credit flows and household debt levels quite carefully. If we do start to see households taking on excessive debt, that's when we could see credit restrictions becoming more prominent."
Limitations on credit flows may come into play much like we saw in 2014 and 2017, Mr Lawless said, again making now an ideal time to purchase for buyers with the means to do so.
