I’ve just completed a suburb-by-suburb analysis on Canberra for the Price Predictor Index and have found that this market is strengthening.  I’ve examined price data since the start of this century and I note that while Canberra is only a short distance from Sydney, usually its property market is doing something quite different to Sydney’s. Canberra didn’t follow Sydney into a major property boom and now that Sydney is falling, Canberra is steadily on the rise. This, my research tells me, is situation normal. Right now, Canberra has more growth markets than at any time since Hotspotting began its quarterly location-by-location surveys four years ago. The norm now in Canberra is suburbs where median prices have grown by more than 5% in the past 12 months, while only a handful have falling prices. In this latest survey, I’ve have identified 26 suburbs where demand is rising, as well as 37...

Renters in Canberra are being faced with the most expensive weekly asking rents for houses in the nation, according to the latest Domain quarterly report. Domain's State of the Market Rental Report for the June quarter shows Canberra's median weekly asking rent for houses is currently $550, on par with Sydney.

Hobart has the lowest residential vacancy rate among Australian capital cities at 0.4 per cent in January, while Melbourne and Sydney vacancies fall over the month, the latest SQM Research update shows. Hobart is experiencing a record low vacancy of rental properties followed by Canberra at 0.9 per cent. Sydney, on the hand, has experienced some relief in vacancies, with a rate of 2.3 per cent in January. While it has fallen from 2.6 per cent, it was higher than January last year which was 1.9 per cent. The strong flow of new housing, particularly apartments, in the past five years have finally taken off some pressure on housing shortage in Sydney, SQM Managing Director Louis Christopher said. "While Sydney's vacancy rate has dropped, it is still well up on levels this time last year. If the vacancy rate holds at this level in coming months, Sydney will be more of a...