Capital city home values are 5.7 per cent lower than their historic highs of late 2010, with Canberra homes falling 1 per cent over the month and 1.1 per cent over the quarter, according to RP Data.

The territory was among the majority of capital cities that had quarterly falls in home values. The largest was in Hobart which had a fall of 3.7 per cent.

The federal government's pitch last year for a budget deficit and this year's election had caused concern among buyers in Canberra, RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said. He said people would remain unwilling to buy until job security became more certain.

"What we're seeing is people sitting on their hands," he said. "People in Canberra aren't too active in the market as they're not too confident about what the future holds if they work in a public department."

There was also little hope for a recovery after the election, Mr Kusher said, and he predicted Canberra would remain flat or even record a slight decline. "I think Canberra might continue to be one of the weak performing markets over the next 12 months," he said. "At a national level, I expect there will be some low-level value growth returning to the market. I'd be surprised if it got up above 2 per cent."

The median price of a Canberra home stood at $517,500 at the end of December, down from the previous month's $538,000.

The median price of a Canberra house fell by 1 per cent over the month and 1.1 per cent over the quarter to $562,500, while the median apartment price fell 0.8 per cent over the month and 0.6 per cent over the quarter to $410,000.

These drops followed a series of interest rate cuts, which industry experts said were losing their power to stimulate the property market.

Despite the Reserve Bank slashing the cash rate six times in 14 months, there had been little response from the market, AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said.

"Normally this far into an easing cycle things should be running quite a lot stronger than they are," he said.

"Every time interest rates have been cut over the last 20 to 30 years there has been a response in the housing sector. We haven't seen the same response this time."

But local agencies were hopeful of a successful year, with the chief executive of the Independent Property Group, John Runko, saying the effects of the recent cuts were still to be felt.

"Certainly within the industry there's a bit of confidence," he said.

"There's really nothing on the immediate horizon that says there's anything we should fear."