It took just two days for Ashleigh Morrish to find her first home, landing on a one-bedroom apartment in Greenway just before Christmas.
The 24-year-old public servant had considered buying about a year ago, but rising interest rates at the time made her reconsider.
Four consecutive cash rate pauses towards the end of last year, plus the prospect of a reduction in 2024, prompted Ms Morrish to secure a loan pre-approval in December.
"Everything just happened very quickly once I'd made that decision that yes, this is what I'm going to do," she said.
Within a week, her offer on the apartment had been accepted and now, following settlement, she's packing boxes and preparing to move into her first home.
Canberra buyers lead the pack
First home buyers were out in force towards the end of 2023, recent data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.
In November, 290 first home buyers took out a new owner occupier loan in the ACT, a 14.2 per cent rise on October figures. It was the largest monthly increase across the country.
It was a 39 per cent increase from July, when first home buyer loan commitments fell to 208 for the month.
The value of new first home buyers loans in the ACT totalled $146.8 million in November. It means the average loan size was $506,206.
In November, there were also 25 first home buyers who took out a loan for an investment property in the ACT, the same number as the month before.
Maree Kilroy, senior economist for Oxford Economics Australia, said first home buyer loans had been increasing across the country.
"We are coming from a downward trend that has been playing through first home buyer loans following the peak that it sort of reached during 2022," she said.
"I think we've seen the bottom in the first home buyer demand market, so we're gradually improving off of that."
'Busiest January' in five years
Marquette managing director and mortgage broker Jonathan Mosslar, who assisted Ms Morrish in purchasing her home, said the first half of 2023 was a "lean year" for first home buyer activity in Canberra.
But the second half of the year had brought a resurgence of buyers, Mr Mosslar said, who were likely motivated by pauses in the cash rate.
The first home buyer momentum was continuing into 2024.
"This is probably the busiest January that I've had in the last five years," he said.
Almost all of Mr Mosslar's first home buyer clients were opting for a variable interest rate, given the prospect of a cash rate reduction in 2024.
"Not many people are keen to fix their rate at above 6 per cent at the moment,' he said.
Bucking the trend, Ms Morrish chose a fixed rate, which she said would give her certainty this year.
"I'll be keeping an eye on the interest rates and just watching what they do to plan ahead but hopefully just going down," she said.
For buyers looking to land their first home, Ms Morrish said having a list of criteria helped her narrow down the options.
"Just accepting that your first home isn't going to be perfect, it's not going to be everything you've ever dreamed of most of the time," she said.
"So figuring out what you're willing to compromise on and what you're willing to accept."
