Mr Fluffy Update

Canberra house prices are expected to rise this year as the property market is hit by the Mr Fluffy effect.

Experts say the typical post Christmas rush combined with an influx of affected  Mr Fluffy families looking for new homes in their existing suburbs is likely to push up prices early this year.

As of last month about 490 home owners had opted into the buy-back scheme.

Agents we are speaking to say there has been an influx of Mr Fluffy home owners at open inspections throughout the territory and this is likely to translate into many buyers over the next 6 months.

They say affected home owners are also hoping to stay in the same suburb and this is creating strong competition for homes.

A comparison with Allhomes listing data shows there is a severe lack of properties in the suburbs with the most Mr Fluffy homes.

Kambah has 103 Mr Fluffy homes and just 37 houses on the market, Pearce has 40 affected houses and just eight houses on the market and Curtin has 43 contaminated properties and 19 houses on the market.  Farrer and Torrens have about 30 Mr Fluffy homes each and there are only eight houses on the market in each suburb.

Domain Group data shows that this year’s early spring auction market has been stronger than the same period in 2013 with senior economist Andrew Wilson saying there had been some positive signs for the underperforming Canberra market in the past few months and unleashing 1000 changeover buyers would increase activity.

“I don’t think we’re going to see a raging boom but I think we’ll see certainly more activity and some prices growth as a result,” Dr Wilson said.