Owning property more likely, Canberra

Owning a property is becoming more of a reality for those living in Canberra, a new report has found.

Properties in ACT are more affordable due to increased wages and reduced interest rates, according to the latest Housing Industry Association-Commonwealth Bank affordability report.

“A combination of healthy earnings growth and a slight decrease in mortgage lending rates drove the September quarter improvement,” the report said.

This is the third straight quarterly improvement.

“The median dwelling price in the ACT was relatively unchanged in the September 2011 quarter, posting an increase of 0.1 per cent to $542,600.”

“Average weekly ordinary time earnings of an adult working full time increased by 1.2 per cent during the quarter while the average mortgage lending rate over the quarter was down by 0.03 percentage points,” the report said.

With a combined rise in average earnings and current cuts in mortgage interest rates, the affordability index reported a 1.8 per cent improvement over the September quarter.

However, this still remains 0.8 per cent above the level of the 2010 September quarter.

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