Canberra house values rose slightly in August, offering positive signs to sellers as spring arrives.
Though an "extraordinary rise" in new property listings across the capital showed some sellers were keen to get a head start.
House values rose 0.4 per cent over the month to a new median value of $953,166, CoreLogic's latest home value index revealed.
There was no change to Canberra's median unit value at $601,910.
Combining all housing types, Canberra's median home value rose 0.3 per cent in August to $830,875.
While the August figures were an improvement on July's slight decline, Canberra's growth was still modest, CoreLogic head of residential research Australia Eliza Owen said.
"Although we've seen some value recuperated in August with a 0.3 per cent uplift, there's still a little bit of uncertainty to this upswing phase," she said.
The number of properties for sale was one of the biggest factors contributing to Canberra's modest growth, compared to other capital cities.
New property listings had been on the rise since July, Ms Owen said.
"We've seen a steady rise in new listings added to the market and they probably aren't selling that quickly," she said.
"Hence, we've got an accumulation of total listings volumes as well."
Canberra's young, transient population, coupled with the second highest median house value of all the capital cities, could also be a factor, Ms Owen said.
"Some of the young demographic might be more hampered in purchasing these properties as a result," she said.
A recent decline in Canberra rental values could be playing its part as well.
Ms Owen said while rents overall had increased by almost 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic, they were "firmly in decline".
"So that might be seeing investors shy away from the market too," she said.
The national home value index rose 0.8 per cent in August, marking a "slight acceleration" from July, the report found.
Brisbane led the uptick with a 1.5 per cent increase across all dwelling types, followed by 1.1 per cent growth in Sydney and Adelaide.
'Extraordinary rise' in property listings
CoreLogic's rolling four-week count of new listings showed Canberra had gained 690 new properties for sale in the four weeks to August 27.
It was an "extraordinary rise" from the four weeks to July 4 when a low of 500 new listings were added, Ms Owen said.
It puts new listings about 22 per cent higher than the previous five-year average.
Most of the increase was due to new unit listings. The latest four-week count saw 348 new units added to the market, compared to about 221 historically seen at this time of year.
New house listings were in line with historic averages, Ms Owen said.
A buyer or seller market this spring?
Heading into the traditional selling season there was some uncertainty about what spring could bring, Ms Owen said.
"It could go the way of more buyers coming to market and that usual spring bump," she said.
"But there is, I think, some downside risk for the market that if price performance doesn't improve, sellers might once again hold back as they did when interest rates started to rise last year."
The prospect of "looser" labour market conditions, the transition from low fixed-rate mortgages to high variable rates and the potential for even more property listings all provided a level of risk to the spring market, Ms Owen said.
However, the "slight uptick" in home values through August was good news for sellers.
"It's an early indication that seller conditions are starting to improve," she said.
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