The Australian Capital Territory is likely to see the performance of the housing and unit markets diverge as demand for detached dwelling remains robust, according to the latest report from CoreLogic.
Both houses and units are seeing an uptrend across the territory, but the former has been a bigger force in lifting the overall dwelling values. In fact, house values increased by 7.6% over the April quarter, outpacing the 2.6% gain in unit values.
House approvals for construction have risen by 18.7% to 1,392 in the 12 months to March. The uplift in unit approvals was 17.4%, taking approvals to 4,041.
"The substantial lift in approved unit supply could see a further widening in the divergence between performance of the house and unit segment. Demand for detached houses could be constrained by affordability pressures," the report said.
Overall, the ACT dwelling market has continued to surge in value, with April marking the 20th consecutive month of reporting record-high value gains.
The sales volume in the ACT have grown by 10.7% over the year to April while clearance rates have averaged by 88.1% weekly since the start of the year. This reflects the strong demand for dwellings in the ACT.
"The extremely strong growth in demand for dwellings across the ACT, like many smaller capital cities and regional markets, has been exacerbated by low listings volumes," the report said.
However, it appears new listings volumes are rising, which might eventually ease conditions for buyers in the Canberra market.
