Canberrans with the means to break into the property market is being advised: now might be an ideal time. Economists acknowledge high cost of living pressures and lower savings rates means home ownership is out of reach for many but for those who can afford to buy, it seems the property market scales are starting to tip in their favour.
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00:00It's still tough to get into, particularly with a young family, it's, you know, it is
00:08expensive and a big purchase.
00:10To home-owning.
00:11The first, second, third of our time is selling, selling, so congratulations, well done.
00:16Oh, it's stunning, we were, yeah, really hoping to get this place and yeah, we were just very
00:21lucky.
00:22After years of saving and sacrifice, Megan and Paul Watts were determined to make the
00:27most of what economists describe as a slow and steady local housing market.
00:33It's been really tough, you know, it takes a lot of effort, it takes, you know, a lot
00:37of compromise on things to be able to save money, to be able to get into the market.
00:42Sales volumes are a little lower than what we would usually see, competition a little
00:46less fierce and more people looking to sell.
00:49Since April last year, the average monthly movement in dwelling values has only been
00:53a change of 0.1 per cent.
00:56But there have been more sellers than buyers during the spring season and the Canberra
01:00market has cooled further, with values down 0.3 per cent in October.
01:05People are able to negotiate lower purchase prices and ultimately that lowers the value
01:10of the housing market as well.
01:12After plenty of watching and waiting over the past 12 months for movement on interest
01:17rates, agents say buyer behaviour has shifted.
01:21They have confidence that they're probably not going to see another rise, there's optimism
01:24around the fact that we're probably going to have some reductions next year, so they're
01:28confident that they're coming in and buying at a level that they can afford.
01:31Ms Owens says affordability constraints are still clashing with the economic environment,
01:37leaving Canberra property out of reach for many.
01:39Where you've got high cost of living pressures, lower savings rates for households and that
01:44means that people are struggling to put a deposit together in some cases.
01:49Values are down about 6 per cent from a peak in May 2022, but they're still 30 per cent
01:54higher than at the onset of the pandemic.
01:57Even so...
01:58We're seeing more buyers come through, we're seeing more buyers also with loans approved
02:02already coming through and prepared to buy.
02:05Making the great Australian dream a reality.