The Domain Group House Price Report shows that the median house price in the territory fell by 1.7 per cent after a rise in the June quarter of 1.6 per cent.

Units also recorded the worst performance in the country, with a fall of 4.1 per cent.

Canberra's median house price now sits at $573,326 and the unit price at $395,110.

This makes ACT houses the fourth most expensive in the country and units the fifth most pricey of all capital cities.

Domain Group senior economist Andrew Wilson said Canberra's volatile property market had continued its rollercoaster ride for another quarter.

"It's a disappointing result for the Canberra market in the sense that we have been looking to break that cycle of quarter up, quarter down that has characterised the market really for the past two years," he said.

"I guess it's just that low interest-rate environment that has activated most markets… has yet to take hold of the Canberra market."

Dr Wilson said that, in a positive sign for spring, the number of auctions held had increased and the clearance rate had improved slightly.

But for the market as a whole, "prices growth has tracked backwards, so it's lost the gains it's made over the previous two quarters".

The Domain Group data shows that Canberra house prices have increased by 1.2 per cent a year while unit prices have fallen 4 per cent.

Real Estate Institute of the ACT spokesman Craig Bright said the data was taken in winter and didn't reflect the more positive market in spring. This was quite strong, particularly in inner Canberra and when units were taken out of the equation.

"The market for housing seems to be pretty solid," Mr Bright said.

"If you extract units and just look at housing stock it's fairly light on the ground."

He said the rental market also appeared to be tightening, as was typical towards the end of the year.

LJ Hooker Manuka principal Stephen Thompson said there had been an increase in buyer activity during spring, with plenty of people inspecting properties and registering for auctions.

"I'm not trying to say the market's booming because it's not, but it's certainly more active," he said.

"Properties are being sold quicker and they're meeting reserves."

Nationally the data showed the median house price increased by 1.2 per cent over the September quarter and 9.4 per cent for the year ending September.

Dr Wilson said it was the lowest quarterly growth rate recorded since March last year and mainly relied on the strength of the Sydney market, which grew by 3.8 per cent.