Not only was Melba Canberra's strongest performing suburb but nationwide it recorded the third highest growth rate.

According to data from Corelogic the suburb recorded a new median house value of $620,471, based on sales from the 12 months to November.

The figures also show Canberra house prices picked up towards the end of the year.

Government records indicate the biggest sale price paid during 2019 was $6.95 million for a house in Red Hill.

The data showed Isaacs had the second biggest jump in house values at 12.2 per cent followed by Weetangera and Latham, both at 12.1 per cent.

North-side suburbs pipped the south in the top 10 for growth rates with Higgins (up 11.5 per cent), Spence (9.7 per cent), Hackett (9.2 per cent) and Ainslie (9 per cent).

South side suburbs, Garran and Holder rounded out the top 10. Both were up 8.3 per cent.

Across wider Canberra growth was more subdued.

In the first half of 2019, Canberra house prices dipped but the downturn did not last as long as in Sydney and Melbourne and the recovery saw a peak in the median housing value for the nation's capital.

The Canberra housing market was "relatively resilient" to falling prices, Corelogic head of research Tim Lawless said in a report.

The market was down 1.5 per cent between April and July but housing values have grown by 4 per cent since. A record high median was recorded in November.

The most recent Corelogic figures put Canberra's median house value at $687,798.

Mr Lawless said market activity picked up over the second half of the year but was lower than average.

"Annual sales remain 3 per cent lower than a year ago and 11 per cent below the decade average," he said.

The federal election contributed to the slow point in the market in 2019 according to Real Estate Institute of the ACT president Michael Kumm.

"With the announcement of the federal election the market didn't stop completely but it did quieten down," he said.

"But it was absolutely pleasing to see it rocket ahead in the last two or three months of the year, a number of record prices were set and a lot of good property was sold."

It is understood a home in November was sold for more than $6 million.

The highest sale price for the year was $6.95 million for the house at 3 Torres Street in Red Hill. The sale in October was Canberra's third highest residential sale ever recorded.

But it was not the only sale for the prestigious Red Hill street. The total sales value from just three houses sold this year was more than $16 million. Number 11 sold for $5.5 million and number 4 sold for $4,031,000, government records show.

It is also understood a home in Forrest was sold for more than $6 million.

A Red Hill home also broke Canberra's auction record. The house at 30 Mugga Way sold under the hammer in November for $5.85 million. It beat the previous record by $100,000.

Peter Blackshaw Real Estate managing director Andrew Chamberlain was a co-listing agent on the Mugga Way sale. He said confidence in the market grew, particularly in high-end properties, in the second half of the year.

There were about two dozen buyers in the Canberra market at the moment who had the capacity to purchase a property at this price level, Mr Chamberlain said.

"The election and the gradual loosening of lending restrictions had a degree of impact," he said.

"But more than anything it was the change in sentiment those things brought rather than any change to an individual's circumstances."