And smaller blocks discouraged new entrants to the industry, with apprentice numbers down by one-third, a veteran bricklayer said.

Harcourt Bricklaying co-owner Chris Gianchou said he knew five bricklayers who had left the trade in the last year and wage rises for those in Sydney - now receiving as much as $1.90 per brick - were a distant dream for ACT brickies.

"I've heard Canberra rates as little as 85¢ a brick now, probably to about $1 to $1.20 would be the maximum," he said.

"Bricklayers I know have left the industry, it's just been too hard to make a dollar here – they're going and driving buses for ACTION and getting out altogether."

Mr Gianchou, who has been in the industry for 32 years, said any Canberra bricklayers going to Sydney were after work, not chasing the higher prices.

Australian Brick and Blocklaying Training Foundation chief executive Geoff Noble said there were 40 ACT bricklayer apprentices in the territory as of June 2014, down from 60-70 in 2011-12. Housing was the determining factor in numbers, he said.

"Dwelling starts in 2014-15 are going to be 3500, down on the last few years, but well above the ACT average," he said.

Prices in Sydney now averaged $1.50 per brick, up from 85¢ a year ago, but the city was an outlier with regional NSW prices lower and Victoria at 85¢ to $1, he said.

Mr Gianchou said small residential sites and related lack of access made a bricklayer's work even more physical.

"It's all manual hard labour, you've got to wheel bricks up a steep incline because lack of access, or got to cart around the back of the house," he said.

"Young guys come on the site and they see this and say, 'I'm not doing any more'."

January was the fourth consecutive month of a decrease in ACT dwelling approvals, down 5.6 per cent from December. There were 3726 homes approved for the year ending January.

Mr Noble said bricklayers laid an average of 300-500 bricks a day, subject to weather conditions and job complexity.