Sentiment in the capital fell by 16 index points over the three months, according to the Property Council-ANZ Property Industry Confidence Survey, issued today.

It was the largest drop in the country and left the ACT with the lowest confidence of any state or territory at 85 on the index, on which 100 is considered neutral.

The dramatic fall in confidence comes ahead of an ''election showdown'' between ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and Opposition Leader Zed Seselja, who will be discussing the property sector in Barton today.

The survey, which polled more than 3100 members of the property and construction sector across the country, found that the ACT and South Australia were the only two jurisdictions to shift from positive to negative over the period.

The ACT also recorded a drop in the number of respondents indicating they would hire more staff, which Property Council of Australia ACT executive director Catherine Carter attributed to ongoing political uncertainty and concerns surrounding job security.

Ms Carter said action needed to be taken to avoid the downturn experienced during the 1990s in the capital.

She said though there was little the industry could do to combat the lack of confidence stemming from federal political uncertainty, the ACT government did hold part of the solution.

''This is an opportunity for the ACT government to step up,'' she said.

''If they get their planning processes right, if they stick to their timetables, that's the way we'll fight our way through this.''

However, Colliers International state chief executive Paul Powderly said the situation may not be as bad as the survey indicated.

''The reality is different to sentiment,'' he said.

''The reality is we haven't seen thousands of public sector job losses.''

Mr Powderly said there had even been an increase - ''albeit not dramatic'' - in local enquiry rates since June.

''It's not the world ending, it's a cycle and we'll see a different sentiment by the first quarter of next year,'' he said.

Independent Property Group chief executive John Runko agreed the survey was ''pessimistic'' and influenced by uncertain political and financial conditions.

Mr Runko echoed Ms Carter's demands for action from the ACT government.

''I think they need to be a little more responsive to the market and its needs,'' he said.

Mr Runko said while there was no ''magic solution'', the government could curb the fall in confidence through a range of smaller measures such as ensuring the right type of properties went up in the right location.

Nationally, the survey confidence index dropped from 113 in the June quarter to 106 in the September quarter. Every property asset class recorded a downward trend in sentiment, most significantly in the office sector which dropped from 111 to 104 on the index.

Reviewing the national results, Property Council chief executive Peter Verwer said there had been a ''big shift'' in expectations for interest rates.

''Respondents are more confident of an interest rate cut than at any other point in the series,'' he explained.

''Overall, property industry confidence had been coming off the floor, but it appears obvious it will not improve further until the next interest rate cut occurs.''