Data from First Point shows the majority of young people in homeless situations were women, and 49 were single parents.

Youth Coalition of the ACT deputy director Sarah Jewell said homelessness had a youthful face in the capital.

"Couch surfing is how the majority of young people experience homelessness," she said.

"We are seeing a slight increase in rough sleeping but by far the majority of homelessness is secondary homelessness."

She said that, without stable housing, homeless people spent a lot of energy finding a place to sleep at night.

There was a call to action to address housing market failure as part of Youth Homelessness Matters Day last Wednesday. ACT Shelter chief executive Travis Gilbert said housing stress pushed many young people into homelessness.

He said housing costs were threatening to lock large numbers of young people out of home ownership for the foreseeable future.

Mr Gilbert said one in four people who experienced homelessness, and one in three at risk of becoming homeless, were aged 12 to 24.

"There is an urgent need for early intervention and affordable housing-led solutions," he said.

Mr Gilbert said rates of housing stress were higher among young people than other age groups, and that young people in the ACT were at risk of housing poverty.

"Data shows the proportion of young people able to start buying a home continues to fall," he said.

"Unless urgent action is taken to address housing affordability, we risk locking a generation out of home ownership, which will have significant implications for wealth creation and transfer in the long term."