Median unit prices dropped in Canberra's inner south by 6 per cent in the 12 months leading up to September 2018, according to data from Domain.

In the three months to the end of September, the median price fell 1.9 per cent.

Mr McIntosh and his partner, both originally renting in Sydney, bought their first unit on Kingston's foreshore on Friday.

"We wanted to buy because we didn't want to rent, and the rents are expensive here," he said.

He said the unit was being rented out before they purchased it, but the mortgage was only $100 a week extra on top of the rent.

"Considering the value from a Sydney point of view, if we ever decided to rent it we'd get a very good return," he said.

Mr McIntosh said when he took up a public service contract in Canberra he had been looking for a break from the density of Sydney and the constant construction around his home.

"And the lifestyle down here is a lot better," he said.

The median unit price in Canberra's inner south, which includes suburbs like Kingston and Griffith, has dropped $34,000, from $519,450 in September last year to $485,500.

Mr McIntosh and his partner put down 10 per cent on their $605,000 purchase.

He is not concerned about falling prices in the area, as the couple had no plans to sell in the short term, but said Kingston was a sought-after area regardless.

Out east, Queanbeyan was a surprise winner in the tightening Canberra market.

Median unit prices in the Queanbeyan region jumped about 11 per cent in the 12 months leading up to September, with about a 3 per cent rise in the quarter to September.

Unit prices in Queanbeyan rose from a median of $249,250 in September last year to $277,000 this September.

Stewart Cartwright bought an apartment in Queanbeyan two weeks ago, having looked for his first home since leaving Defence in August.

Mr Cartwright said he wasn't in the game of buying and flipping houses - he just wanted something he could afford.

He said he wasn't willing to pay ridiculous rental prices and thought the option to buy presented better value for money.

"You look at the rental prices in Canberra, you're paying like $350 which will get you something OK but you're paying for the location really," Mr Cartwright said.

But he said he wasn't looking for an investment property.

"Being a single bloke freshly out of the military, I just wanted something that was all my own, something I could just sink my teeth into," he said.

Mr Cartwright put a 20 per cent deposit on his $192,000 purchase.

"In a few years, if I have an accountant, they might advise me to sell it. It all depends on how quickly it takes me to pay it off," he said.

Mr Cartwright just wanted a one-bedroom unit with a garage, and said Canberra prices would have meant paying double for what he could get in Queanbeyan.

"Queanbeyan's a really nice town. There's a lot of people who have a nose in the air about it," he said.

He said it was only a short commute to work, and the only reason to live in Canberra was for the location.

Owners Corporation Network president Gary Petherbridge has previously warned rising unit prices, rates rises and energy prices could lump unit owners with excess costs.

Speaking to The Canberra Times on Friday, Mr Petherbridge said building defects left behind by unit builders and developers could also sting new owners with repair costs.

"Foreclosure is a possibility," he said.

"It's a fact those rates have gone up and it's a fact those defects have gone out there.

"The property values are going down, the rates and land taxes are going up."

It was revealed on Saturday that median unit prices across Canberra have fallen an average of 4 per cent in the 12 months leading up to September.