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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Brittney Levinson

The Canberra suburbs where home values have risen, despite the downturn

A townhouse that sold last year in Hawker, where unit prices have risen in the past 12 months. Picture LJ Hooker Belconnen

While property values have fallen broadly across the ACT, some suburbs have tracked upwards over the past 12 months.

Unit values were up as high as nearly 9 per cent in one Canberra suburb, the latest home value index from CoreLogic shows.

Canberra's property downturn has primarily been driven by house values, which declined 8.4 per cent for the year to February.

Just three areas analysed by CoreLogic recorded an increase in the median house value over that time.

Molonglo North, which includes the new suburb of Whitlam, saw 3.3 per cent annual growth in the median house value, followed by Oxley (up 2.3 per cent) and Throsby (up 0.8 per cent).

However the unit segment, which includes apartments and townhouses, has seen a much softer decline over the past year.

Canberra's median unit value fell just 0.5 per cent for the 12 months to February.

Hawker, in the Belconnen region, recorded growth of 8.7 per cent over that period, taking the median unit value to $515,062.

The median unit value in Lyons rose 5.9 per cent to $475,404, while a similar increase was seen in Phillip where the median was up 5.8 per cent at $485,804.

Barton unit values increased 4.5 per cent to a median of $661,065 and units in Wright were up 3 per cent to a median value of $519,134.

Kathy Komar of LJ Hooker Belconnen said it came as no surprise to see Hawker top the list for unit value growth.

"The units have been undervalued for quite some time and the townhouses ... they're still very highly in demand," she said.

Owner occupiers are particularly drawn to the suburb for the older homes because "they know what they're getting", Ms Komar said.

"Those builds have been tried and tested, there's no nasty surprises that you sometimes get with new builds. So people like the security of it," she said.

But getting your hands on one may take some time. Just one Hawker unit has sold since the beginning of 2023, CoreLogic records show.

"It's just an ideal location. Once people move in, they tend to stay," Ms Komar said.

The CoreLogic data also revealed unit value growth in Bruce (up 2.9 per cent), while Greenway and Reid also recorded 2 per cent growth.

Lyneham and Chifley rounded out the top 10 for unit value growth with increases of 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.

CoreLogic's February home value index, released on Wednesday, revealed the rate of monthly decline had eased significantly in Canberra.

The median house value fell 0.5 per cent over the month, while the median unit value fell 0.4 per cent.

The rates of decline across the two dwelling types appeared to be intersecting as the house value downturn loses momentum.

"Houses started to decline a little bit earlier through the cycle in Canberra," CoreLogic head of Australian research Eliza Owen said.

"Broadly we would expect houses to see a larger decline overall off the back of their relatively high price point ... and the fact that they generally see a big uplift over time as well."

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