Canberra house prices have fallen below the national average for the first time in more than three years, as strong growth in Sydney and Melbourne leaves the ACT lagging behind.
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The territory dropped from first to third between 2011 and 2014 in terms of mean house prices, overtaken by NSW and Western Australia. It appears likely to soon be overtaken by Victoria as well.
Australian Bureau of Statistics senior economist Shane Garrett said in January it was likely the national average would overtake Canberra by the middle of 2015.
"The public sector is the reason here . . . employment growth in the ACT has been weaker than the national average and you've also had the situation where people coming into the ACT to live from other states has dropped off as a result of weaker activity in the public sector," he said.
Mr Garratt said low interest rates and high supply had caused a boom in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets, which had boosted national prices considerably.
