PROPERTY industry confidence has fallen in the ACT, according to the latest ANZ/Property Council survey released on Thursday.

The Property Council of Australia’s acting ACT executive director Ross Grove said confidence fell from 129 to 108 index points.

The survey’s headline issue in Canberra was housing supply and affordability, followed by planning reform.

“Everyone in Canberra is anxious about the need to get new housing on to the market. Our household sizes are changing and our population is growing, so we need new stock that caters to this cohort,” he said.

“This is followed by the need for planning reform – and delivery of the ACT government’s reform package with industry input is an critical element to providing certainty and unlocking the additional housing supply our city needs.

“While Canberra has enjoyed high levels of industry confidence previously, we’ve seen a 21-point drop bringing the confidence index to 108. This is still an overall positive result, but we need to be mindful of the factors driving the change.

“Our industry is feeling the pinch of global economic headwinds, inflationary pressures, reduced availability of capital and increased costs.

“The outlook for retail and commercial property is not as rosy as it once was, but the growing interest in retirement living and hotels hints there is a case to be made for incentivising adaptive re-use of C and D grade office stock, providing avenues to upcycle these buildings and keep our centres active and vibrant throughout the day.”

Key figures

• Confidence declined to 108 index points, the largest decrease across the country
• Confidence in the ACT is slightly below national confidence levels.
• ACT saw the largest decline in staffing level expectations over the next 12 months, decreasing from 30 to 17 Index points. Despite the decrease staffing expectations remain in positive territory and above Australia.
• State economic growth expectations were neutral for the March 2023 quarter, well above Australia at -13 index points.
• ACT was the only state where industrial capital values are expected to decline over the next 12 months.
• Respondents from ACT believe the federal government is doing a good job in delivering policies that encourage jobs and economic growth.
• Respondents believe the ACT government’s performance is neutral, in line with the Australian average.