Canberra's business chamber has urged the city to broaden its economy as new figures showed a heady mixture of public service jobs, home ownership and the property sector powered the ACT.
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Dwelling ownership brought $3.5 billion into the territory's economy in 2015-16, and the property industry another $3.2 billion, the second and third greatest direct sources of wealth that year, according to a report by consultants AEC Group released on Monday.
However public administration and safety was the greatest economic driver, contributing $11.4 billion of $35.7 billion gross territory product contributed by industries, more than the ACT's next three largest sectors combined.
The research, conducted for the Property Council of Australia, found the property industry was the source of 13 per cent of wages paid to Canberra workers and contributed about $900.9 million or 57.5 per cent of combined ACT government tax revenues and local government rates, fees and charges revenue in 2015-16.
Its businesses include those involved in residential and non-residential construction along with finance, business and other services associated with developing and operating property.
Construction, non-residential property operators and real estate services were the largest wealth generators within the industry.
While public administration and safety remained by far Canberra's largest employer, providing 73 400 jobs in 2015-16, health care and social assistance employed 20 200 people and property 18 600.
The property industry contributed a further $3.3 billion to the ACT's economy through flow-on demand for goods and services, and combined with its direct contribution, it generated $6.5 billion in 2015-16 through direct and flow-on activity or 18.1 per cent of total GTP.
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry welcomed the results but said the ACT should use strong economic conditions to grow smaller sectors including education, ICT and professional services.
"There will be contractions as there always are from time to time of the property sector," she said.
"This is a year where we absolutely need to concentrate on growing other industries as well."
Property could draw on a large workforce of Canberrans skilled for its jobs, but other industries were facing shortages stopping them from growing, Ms Hendry said.
"We need to get much more astute about how we're going to meet our skills demands there," she said.
The latest quarterly CommSec State of the State report showed the ACT led the nation on housing finance, and its commitments were up by 36.7 per cent on the long-term average.
Overall, the capital retained third place on the performance rankings, supported by a stronger job market.
Canberra's annual employment growth was now the strongest in almost a decade, the report said.
Deloitte Access Economics' quarterly business outlook said Canberra's economy sprinted through 2017.
It predicted that the Reserve Bank would not raise interest rates until late this year, or more likely early next year, which Deloitte said was good news for Canberra's large mortgage belt.
