The median house price in Canberra's cheapest suburb is more than $100,000 higher than those across the most affordable neighbourhoods of all capital cities, with the new data coming amid predictions of an ACT price surge next year.
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RP Data's 2011 compilation of Australian prices shows that Charnwood in the ACT's north had 55 sales and a median house price of $382,000. In comparison, Sydney's most affordable suburb of Willmot scored a median price of $220,000 and Melbourne's Millgrove recorded a median price of $245,000.
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Red markers are houses and blue markers are units. Large markers indicate information about price rises over the past year, small markers indicate current median price. Click on a marker to see the information.
On the units front, the ACT's most affordable median sales price for 2011 of $304,900 at Dunlop was still the highest in this category in Australia except for Darwin, where the median was $310,000.
RP Data's list of Australia's top 10 national performers includes Canberra city units achieving the nation's highest gross rental yields of 7 per cent, while units in Hughes, recorded the nation's greatest five-year change in median sales price, with an increase of 143.8 per cent.
Five Canberra suburbs achieved median sale prices of more than a million dollars in 2011, with Forrest leading the pack with a median of $2.325million.
Reid, Turner, Red Hill and Griffith all recorded million-dollar-plus medians, in a ''best of the best'' analysis by researcher RP Data.
Charnwood, Macgregor and Ngunnawal recorded the most affordable median sales prices.
Macgregor had 145 sales, with a median of $425,000 and Ngunnawal had 114 sales with a median of $430,000.
And Canberra housing prices are tipped for a major boost next year with Australian Property Monitors - a national supplier of online property information - predicting yesterday a rise of between 3 and 5 per cent.
It's a welcome outlook for the record number of people trying to sell their homes in Canberra, but bad news on the affordability front.
But the Real Estate Institute of Australia still rates Canberra as the nation's most affordable city, because of the capital's high household incomes.
Australian Property Monitors also expects buyer activity to step up next year in Canberra as economic growth fuels increased public service activity in the national capital.
A chronic undersupply of housing will help drive prices growth through 2012.
APM expects this to be around 5per cent by year's end.
APM's annual state of the market report says the Canberra housing market has proved particularly resilient in 2011 with median house prices down by just -1.7 per cent over the year to October - a nation-leading performance.
APM's senior economist Andrew Wilson said demand for housing would intensify particularly in Sydney, Canberra and Perth, which would see housing markets re-energised, albeit at different levels.
''Australia's economic fundamentals are strong, and are well positioned to weather any downturn in international markets,'' Dr Wilson said.
''This, coupled with renewed buyer confidence, will be the key to driving prices growth in the new year.''
Real estate principal John McGrath, who 12 months ago tipped Canberra prices to fall in 2011, also expects them to recover in 2012.
''Canberra has been a powerhouse market for several years but is now taking a breather, with prices coming back 3 to 5 per cent in recent months due to higher supply and caution among buyers,'' he said.
''We're expecting a seasonal increase in activity at the start of the year as new government employees move in.''