The sheer pace of price growth is creating headaches for first home buyers on a strict budget.

When Leisa Quinn purchased a one-bedroom apartment in Canberra's inner-north in July last year, prices were already surging.

Having secured a spot in the federal government's First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, Ms Quinn had a purchase limit of $500,000.

"I had a limit to what I could spend and the market was so crazy that I didn't think that I would find anything, prices were going up so quickly," she said.

"I was looking [online] almost every day and in one week [prices] would just climb and climb. It was a really stressful process."

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CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said the Canberra unit market hasn't followed traditional price growth trends.

"[Canberra] unit sales are growing more quickly than house sales at the moment and it's the same in prices. We're seeing a lot more momentum in the unit market, with prices up about 5.5 per cent over the three months to [the end of] January compared with a 3 per cent rise in the house segment," she said.

"Canberra has been a really interesting case because usually the unit market does kind of mirror trends in the house market so it will go through an upswing at roughly the same time and it will go through a downswing at roughly the same time.

"The Canberra unit market looks quite different at the moment because units have accelerated to the point where they have outperformed houses in the past few quarters and that's not something that we're used to seeing."

With Canberra's median house price recently surpassing $1 million, Ms Owen said housing affordability is a key factor in unit price growth.

Currently, the median value of a Canberra unit is $594,992, compared to $1,032,331 for a Canberra house.

"Units are low relative to house prices and, in fact, across Canberra house values are almost 74 per cent higher than unit values and that's the second largest house price premium of the capital cities," she said.

"It sits behind Brisbane as having the largest price gap between houses and units."

For many Canberrans, like Ms Quinn, the prospect of owning a house is becoming more out of reach, forcing them into higher-density living.

"Really the only way I could get my foot in the door was to buy this apartment," she said.

Dan Cooper of LJ Hooker Tuggeranong, who sold Ms Quinn her apartment, said he's never seen such high demand for units in Canberra.

"When we're opening up a unit for an exhibition on a Saturday, we're seeing similar numbers to what you would see coming through a residential house," he said.

Mr Cooper agreed that housing affordability is forcing more buyers into units and also said investor activity is "back with a vengeance" adding to a crowded market.

Ms Owen said stock levels are also a factor, with unit listings tracking higher than previous years.

"When we start to see an upswing in unit values, as we are across Canberra at the moment, it prompts more vendor activity. Vendors are basically taking advantage of recent strong price increases in the unit segment," she said.

Ms Owen expects the price gap between Canberra units and houses to shorten in the months ahead.

"Because there does seem to be that little bit of a lag where units continue to steam ahead while the house market eases, we should see a bit of a closing in that price gap," she said.

However, recent data shows unit prices may also be easing.

"We saw a quarterly growth rate of 6.3 per cent in the three months to December and then in the three months to January, the quarterly growth rate for units came down a little to 5.6 per cent," Ms Owen said.

Now settled into her first home, Ms Quinn said she's relieved to be in the market but said she holds some concern about what the future holds for property prices.

"I chose to buy in the inner north because it's an area that I think will hold its value rather than buying further out. Hopefully I've made a good investment," she said.

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