r/canberra • u/Fit-Acanthisitta7695 • 19h ago
Recommendations Tuggeranong real estate
What is going on with Canberra real estate?
After too many years of renting and saving, it looks like I might finally be able to buy my first place! Nothing fancy, just a modest 2-3 beddy in Tuggers.
I was anticipating full weekends of open days, dozens of couples, and potential bidding wars with people on a similar limited budget.
Instead, there were only 2 places to look at today, and I was the only person at both (and neither agent was that interested in looking up from their phone).
What's going on? Is there just not much for sale at the moment? Is it the wrong time of year? Have rate rises put buyers off? Are people buying off-market?
I thought this would be exciting, but I'm just confused and deflated.
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u/Nomesne 19h ago
I think ppl are afraid to buy in a falling market is all. They think if they buy now for $500k then it might only be worth $450k in 6 months time.
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u/ChanceTheFapper1 19h ago
Just dollar cost average into the purchase and you won’t have to worry about trying to catch a falling knife /s
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u/Chiron17 18h ago
This might be like what real estate looks like without speculators buying up so many of the houses.
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u/j1llj1ll 19h ago
Investors are not buying because of tax changes, lack of capital gains, interest rates. Occupier owners are cautious because of interest rates and possible value declines. Sellers are holding out for prices to go back up.
Canberra has a long history of refusing to sell at a loss (or sell at less than their desired gain). So if prices aren't escalating, owners hold property until a hot market comes back. In previous lulls and downturns owners have sat on (sometimes empty) property for many years waiting for the price they wanted - and apparently owners have the means to do that in many cases.
This buffers the market pricing here - prices can go flat for a long while, but it rarely actually goes backwards much. But it also means the market can go 'dead' for long periods with few sellers, few buyers and slow sales.
Different segments are affected differently though.
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u/powreedge 16h ago
Thats not true at all and based on a false premise all owners have financial cushion to afford waiting. Reality is after a crazy run in 2022 I saw lots and lots of properties in ACT overpaid for in 2022, sold for much less in 2025-26. What forced them to sell in 2-3 years instead of sitting on them as you said? People in Canberra are not some special breed who defy laws of market.
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u/galemaniac 18h ago
Says a lot about the market when they say "just increase supply" when people can do that to the "new supply"
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u/Mondoweft 19h ago
There were two open homes this morning on my street. I didn't see anyone attend them.
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u/CantaloupeIll3384 18h ago
We had a open home in Tuggers and only 2 people attended. PM me what address you attend as I would love feedback on my agent if you visited our place 😂. We don't need to sell, just prefer not to deal with a rental.
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u/g_jacqui 14h ago
Same! Our place in Tuggeranong went on the market 2 days ago. We're not desperate to sell, we just don't want the hassle anymore. And tbh it feels kind of gross to have an investment property when there's first home buyers trying to get into the market.
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u/CantaloupeIll3384 13h ago
Yep. We have our next home, our townhouse was a perfect starting step but two kids needed an additional bedroom. Would love to see another young couple move in. We had the best neighbours, now next to a barking dog.
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u/g_jacqui 13h ago
Exactly the same situation, except now next to loud teenage neighbours playing basketball.
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u/Jackson2615 19h ago
The market has taken a hit due to the Federal governments changes to negative gearing etc and the rising interest rates
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u/Jorge-Tremendous 19h ago
Times have changed. Agent probably looking up Barista courses for next job.
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u/BeachHut9 16h ago
Rising interest rates are pushing away first home buyers and investors are not showing their cash, resulting in poor sales and flat auctions. Real estate agents are becoming a threatened species of salespeople.
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u/McTerra2 19h ago
If people don’t have to sell, why would they selling at the moment?
And everyone believes prices will fall further so are not buying.
It’s a bit of a stalemate
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u/FlatWhiteShark 16h ago
A place on our street in Tuggeranong went on the market a few months ago at 720K. Sold this week for 715K.
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u/Can-I-remember 18h ago
It’s a matter of who blinks first at the moment. Sellers know the market is dead, so no one but those forced to sell, are selling, Investors have gone and the other buyers are sitting in their hands waiting for prices to drop further.
You are in a great position now to negotiate (remember only those who really need to sell, are selling) if the first home of your dreams hits the market. The problem is, with so few listing it may take a while.
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u/Future-Proposal2900 14h ago
Traditionally properties seem to come onto the market in Spring, and people move into the properties before Christmas.
Albanese & Chalmers' Budget was apparently aimed to make it easier for first home buyers by discouraging investors. I don't think it's working the way they planned. They overcooked it, and shut down the market with tax changes and interest rate rises both hitting at a time of exhorbinant fuel prices, energy and foods costs.
Limited numbers of people are listing in what they think is a falling market, because they know they'll get lowballed. No one is buying in what they think is a falling market, unless they can lowball someone.
Some investors will however be selling because they have had a gut full of government interfere Federal & Territory.
In the meantime rents are increasing because investors aren't buying.
Given time, I think this will settle down and the lowballers and vendors will meet somewhere in-between and properties will start coming back on the market. IDK, it might take 6-12 mths?
I do however fear for renters. They need investors to be buying, and frankly the government thinking that investors would now buy flock to but "new builds" was very naive.
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u/Pooping-on-the-Pope 19h ago
Tuggeranong is a shrinking population now.
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u/FlatWhiteShark 16h ago
Tuggeranong has much the same population now as at its height in the mid-90s. (91K in 1996, 90.2K in 2025), but...
"While the overall population figure is nearly identical to what it was 30 years ago, the demographic makeup has drastically aged, and growth is now driven by town centre infill and apartment blocks rather than new standalone suburban developments."
It's going to change. Our street has large blocks, and we're starting to see retirees moving out, and families moving in.
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u/Pooping-on-the-Pope 14h ago
Or developers splitting blocks
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u/FlatWhiteShark 13h ago
We've only had one house redeveloped on our street so far. They demolished, and rebuilt a project home. Most houses are 1990 15 squares single storey on 800+ sq. m, so there's room for more density. But none so far...
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u/BendKey5897 2h ago
Good job to the Labor government for discouraging property hoarders and investors. Encouraging other people to invest in real wealth creating industries is the way to go for Oz to be more competitive globally. A house doesn't produce anything. Actually, this benefits you as home buyer since there are less competetion.
People are holding to their money. They either wait for prices to fall or do not want to invest at all. Moreover, the rising cost of living is also factor.
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u/rolex_monkey_50 19h ago
Not having other buyers looking means you are in a better position to negotiate. The market is dead due to the interest rate hikes and changes to negative gearing/capital gains. If you are buying a house and holding it long term to live in, these don't matter too much in the long run.