Canberra's property market continues to be popular with first home buyers, despite new data showing the number of new mortgages in Australia is dropping.
Adam Solano, founder of Electrum Finance, said he still had a steady stream of first home buyers looking to purchase in the territory despite growing uncertainty in the market.
"The beauty of the Canberra market, unlike Brisbane or Sydney, or even Adelaide, is that you can get a comfortable one-, sometimes two-bedroom offering for $500,000," Mr Solano said.
According to the latest lending indicators released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of new mortgages in Australia fell 5.4 per cent in the June quarter, with both investors and owner-occupiers taking up fewer new home loans.
While Canberra remained relatively stable in both the volume of new home loans started, and the value of those loans, Mr Solano said there was an opportunity for first home buyers to get a good deal on their home.
"It's rare in this country that first home buyers have a little bit more negotiating power, so I'd say generally speaking, now is as good a time as ever," Mr Solano said.
Those who had already bought could also take advantage of the downturn, because banks would become more competitive in both attracting new clients and retaining existing ones, Mr Solano said.
"Generally banks have been a little bit sharper with that pricing in the last couple of weeks, and especially with retention offers as well," he said.
"I'd be encouraging them to contact their bank or broker to see if there are further discounts available to them."
Owner-occupiers across the country took out 3.3 per cent fewer home loans than they had the previous quarter. The dollar value of the loans was also lower, down 1.9 per cent.
In Canberra, however, they appeared more confident in the market, taking out about the same number of loans, despite recent signs of a downturn in property prices.
First home buyers in particular were not "being spooked" as much as those in other markets, KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said.
"They're still borrowing roughly the same amount, which means they're transacting for the same amount to buy that property," Mr Rawnsley said.
Investor rates dropped significantly across the country, with 8.6 per cent fewer home loans taken out by prospective landlords between April and June.
The federal government's tax reforms, announced at the May budget, were intended to encourage investors out of the market to make way for first home buyers.
However, as the reforms were officially introduced in June, Mr Rawnsley said the true effects were likely to be more visible in the September results, and the downturns were more likely to be the effect of the three consecutive cash rate rises in the first half of the year, which had negatively affected buyers' borrowing power.
"When the September data rolls around in three months, we'll probably see another drop-off in investors," he said.
"Then the question is, will first home buyers stay stable as people come into the market looking for bargains?"
