A report card on the economy shows the ACT now leads the nation for housing finance and the territory remains ranked third in the nation for economic growth, unemployment and population growth.

The ACT leapfrogged Victoria and NSW for housing finance, with the number of commitments 26.2 per cent above the long-term average, according to Commsec's latest State of the States report, released on Monday.

"Housing finance is not just a leading indicator for real estate activity, but it is also a useful indicator of activity in the financial sector," the report said.

Construction on new homes in the ACT was 25.6 per cent above decade averages while Canberra came fourth in the nation for growth in home prices, which rose 3.9 per cent.

Melbourne had the strongest growth, with prices increasing 11.5 per cent followed by Sydney, which was up 11.3 per cent.

The ACT economy has improved considerably, but the territory remains ranked third in the nation, the report said.

"The ACT has comfortably held onto third sport in the performance rankings," the report said.

"Stronger housing activity and the lift in business investment will support the job market and retail spending over the coming year."

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the report was another example of how the ACT government approach to stimulating the economy had countered federal government cuts.

"The increase in housing finance and our low unemployment highlights the confidence consumers have in our economy," he said.

"This should continue with the start of international flights boosting our tourism sector and the government's investment in major infrastructure projects to create more jobs in our city. This includes stage one of the city-wide light rail network, the University of Canberra public hospital and major road upgrades right across the city."

Commsec chief economist Craig James said the ACT was ranked first in the nation for housing finance, which was a key economic indicator.

"If there are more loans being made for buying and building homes then it can induce stronger momentum in the economy in coming months, so that's an encouraging aspect," he said.

"The one aspect where the ACT falls down is in terms of overall construction work, so while activity in the housing sector is reasonably good, there isn't a substantial amount of industrial or commercial work that's being undertaken or completed and that's the area where it's lacking compared to the other states and territories."

The outlook for the ACT economy was encouraging, Mr James said.

"The ACT economy has improved its position as the third best performing state and given the strength in terms of housing finance as well as things like population growth and the labour market, it's likely the ACT will consolidate its position in the third ranking," he said.

Economic activity has improved 11 per cent while ACT ranked fourth for retail spending.

For each state and territory, the CommSec report compares the latest readings for key indicators with decade averages, that is, against the "normal" performance.

Each of the state and territory economies were assessed on eight key indicators: economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, unemployment, construction work done, population growth, housing finance and dwelling starts.

The ACT is now ranked third on population growth with an annual growth rate of 1.36 per cent.