But student representatives from Canberra's largest university say it has become easier to find an affordable home in Canberra over the past year or so.

The communications officer for the Australian National University Students' Association, Jennifer Edmunds, said the large number of relatively cheap apartments that had recently been completed in Canberra meant supply had moved closer to meeting young people's demand.

While February would always be a competitive time of year for housing, she said, it was a noticeably better situation compared with previous years.

"A large number of smaller inner city apartments [have been] going up, taking some of the competitors, people who are … in their 20s, who might otherwise have been in share houses for lack of being able to afford it," she said.

"If they move out it leaves a lot of other properties available."

Student representative Iqra Abedin hosted a "Housemeet" on Monday to help newcomers find people to live with in Canberra.

"There's definitely accommodation there, but students don't want to be out by themselves, they don't want to be stuck somewhere without other students," she said.

Students Association vice-president Annika Humphreys, an ANU bachelor of arts and science student, recently moved into an apartment in Braddon that she plans to share with a friend.

Ms Humphreys said she had lived on campus for 2½ years and then moved into a pre-existing share house, so this was the first time she had applied directly to a real estate agent for a home, but she had been accepted at her first choice of apartment.