Canberra has been labelled the most affordable state or territory to buy a home in, despite recording the most expensive average monthly loan repayment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The ACT recorded an average monthly loan repayment of $2410, the most expensive of the states and territories, but was considered the most affordable when median family incomes were taken into consideration, according to a new report.
It's a position the capital has held for the past six and a half years, according to Real Estate Institute of Australia and Adelaide Bank, who issued the December quarter report.
"When compared to the December quarter of [2011], housing affordability improved by 0.3 percentage points," it read.
The proportion of income needed to meet home loan repayments in the capital fell by 0.2 percentage points over the December quarter to 18.7 per cent.
Rental affordability also improved over the three month period, up 0.6 percentage points, bringing the proportion of income needed to meet median rent to 15.1 per cent.
Nationally, all states and territories reported increases in housing affordability, continuing an 18 month trend of slight improvement.
Meanwhile, 2012 has been labelled as a "tough year" for Canberra's real estate market, according to real estate agent John McGrath, who said election nerves had kept buyers sitting on their hands.
"Now that we have a firm poll date, locals are seeing an opportunity to buy or sell now before the inevitable slowdown mid-year," he said.
"We're seeing increased sales activity with more people attending opens and solid prices being achieved for quality homes."
Both house and apartment prices recorded increases over the year, but Mr McGrath warned the unit market was unlikely to witness a repeat of the 6.6 per cent increase in 2013.
"The apartment market won't do as well in 2013 as supply is now outweighing demand and the typical buyers are wary of the potential for softening yields," he said.
Kambah recorded the highest number of house sales per suburb throughout 2012 at 157, followed by Macgregor and Dunlop on 137 and 96 respectively.
New developments around the foreshore drove Kingston's apartment sales up to 191, the highest recorded number for the year. Stephanie Anderson
