Auction clearance rates in Canberra have dropped to their lowest level since 2020, and that, coupled with stalling growth in house prices, has led to predictions the ACT is reverting to a buyers' market.
CoreLogic data show Canberra's preliminary auction clearance rate fell to 51.2 per cent for the week ending July 3, its lowest point since April 2020.
CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said he expected clearance rates to continue falling.
"This is the third week over the past four weeks where clearance rates have been below the 60 per cent mark, and just going back to April earlier this year we were seeing clearance rates consistently around 70 per cent," he said.
"So it's quite clear that we are seeing a lot of strength coming out of Canberra's auction market that's also reflected in less growth in housing values as well."
Canberra's real estate market surged during the pandemic, but Mr Lawless said there were signs it was finally cooling off.
"The clearance rate is coming down to the low 50 per cent range, potentially even finalising below 50 per cent as more results flow through," he said.
The number of new property listings in Canberra was down 4.8 per cent in June compared to May, according to company SQM Research.
It was also down 14.9 per cent from June 2021 statistics.
Will Honey from Canberra real estate agency, The Property Collective, said a look back at history suggested once prices stabilised they would likely remain stable for some time.
"Historically every 10 to 12 years we see a boom in our market in Canberra, we historically do have flattening of our market after a boom so this is pretty natural what we're going through," he said.
He said the market might drop a little later in the year but warned Canberra buyers not to expect significant falls.
"Prices have been holding so far and I probably expect the same to happen leading into late this year and early next year," Mr Honey said.
Mr Lawless said the figures from the past two months showed ACT property prices were "flattening out".
"In essence, this is virtually a flat market now, but if you look at the trend rate of growth that's been easing since about August last year," he said.
He said buyers could expect to start getting "more and more leverage back at the negotiating table" as the year progressed.
"We can see this in more listings that are active in the marketplace and the fact that homes are taking longer to sell and buyers are starting to negotiate a lot more as well," he said.
