Belconnen is the apartment capital of Canberra, as more and more people in the ACT move into high density housing.
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The latest figures from the the Australian Bureau of Statistics show about 40,000 Canberrans lived in an apartment when last year's census was filled out, with apartments now accounting for about one in six households in the ACT.
About three in five apartments in the ACT were rented, although that number was closer to three in four in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Around one in five ACT apartments were mortgaged - the highest proportion in Australia - while fewer than one in 10 were owned outright - the second lowest proportion in Australia.
Belconnen (3647), Braddon (3426) and Kingston (3411) recorded the highest number of apartment dwellers.
Civic (2129) and Turner (2599) also had high numbers of people living in apartments.
An extra 1064 apartments were built in Belconnen between 2011 and 2016.
Glen Hyde is chair of the Belconnen Community Council and lives in one of the apartment towers in the town centre.
He said it was no wonder more people wanted to live in the "jewel" of Canberra's crown.
"People love Belconnen for its proximity to the town centre and all the amenity that offers," Mr Hyde said.
"The mall is a one minute walk from my front door, you've got the lake [Ginninderra] a minute's walk from my front door and the Belconnen Arts Centre and the restaurant precinct is in a minute's walk too.
"It's an eight minute walk from my doorstep to the University of Canberra campus and it's a three minute bus ride, a 10-minute pushbike ride or a 25-minute walk to Canberra Stadium where I'm a Raiders season ticket holder.
"It's a three-minute walk to work for me and even the parking is cheaper than anywhere else in Canberra."
Another 903 apartments went up in Kingston between 2011 and 2016 while 544 apartments were built in Braddon in the same period.
Across Canberra, another 6797 apartments were built and occupied between 2011 and 2016.
That's more than double the number of freestanding houses that were built and occupied in the same period (3153).
However freestanding houses still outstripped apartments in the ACT four-to-one.
And Housing Industry Association ACT executive director Greg Weller expected the development pendulum to further swing back towards detached houses.
"There has been a frenetic pace of apartments being built in Canberra over the last few years that will moderate a bit," Mr Weller said.
"There really has been that shift for a number of reasons, partly affordability.
"The cost of land is very high in ACT as we know so from an affordability perspective apartments are more attractive especially for new home buyers.
"There aren't as many detached homes being being in Canberra as people want but there are some major housing developments coming online soon. It's cyclical."
ACT Property Council executive director Adina Cirson said while there had been a slowdown in apartment construction, building approvals had more than doubled in the past 12 months and there was a "trend of renewal" across Canberra.
"Building heights have not been reached in this city, there's certainly capacity for higher residential buildings but it's probably been only in the last few years that we've seen an increase in that segment of the market," Ms Cirson said.
"We've got a growing population, 5000-6000 people come here every year and we have a border, we have to look at infill, and we need that urban infill closer to population centres, with easy access to transport, retail and study options."
