Best months to look for a place to rent in Canberra?

Not sure about recently, but around 4 years ago I found anytime between January and December was way too cutthroat for house hunting. Due to the prices going around, I ended up buying instead and never regretted it.

I haven’t really had to look for housing in Canberra, but from what friends say, even after uni finishes in late November, there is already strong competition from next year’s grads and students for places. Perhaps if you are looking to start in December, you might stand a good chance.

Even after the grads and students start, many do not have places to stay. It takes a few months for the surplus demand to work through the system.

By winter people are settled in, and demand has dropped, and it is easier to find a place to rent. This persists through spring until December when next years grads/students start looking again.

i would be wary of jan/feb and june/july as many contractors move to canberra to start new contracts then. I agree that right now would probably be the best time to look – good luck

I moed to Canberra last year in late-August and found it relatively easy to find rentals around that time of year. I had a hotel paid for by my employer for 3 weeks, which landed me a place in Kingston by mid-September. I stayed there for a few months and moved out again in February when my partner moved down. We found another place in Kingston quite easily for the start of Feb. There was competition on both accounts, but it just came down to being first in and handing in the application on the day of the open inspection.

Given where I’ve lived and am living now, it wouldn’t fit the bill of a student or newbie grad. Most grads flock to the cheaper burbs where they can sharehouse it.

yes, I would certainly agree that now is the perfect time for rental hunting.

we found our rental house in August last year. i think it had been open for inspection for 4 weekends prior by the time we looked at it. we were the only ones who applied, and they approved us within a week.

my partner was a full time student at the time and i was still looking for work and we were approved. that said, we had really good references from our place in Sydney and we had plenty of cash to show we could service the rent.

i think they had lowered the asking rent several times before we applied as we got a bargain (IMO), 3 bedroom house on large block in Ainslie for $495 per week.

the real estate agents have also been really great – probably the best i’ve come across in my time – Peter Blackshaw Tuggeranong.