Real estate price - impact on immigrants

Hi,

I would like to know what you think about the impact the real estate cost has on your decision to immigrate to Australia (or to stay).

It seems it's getting nearly impossible to buy a housing in Sydney unless you buy far from your job - with a long commute and decreased quality of life.

Of course, prices could fall and make housing affordable again but that day may never come. It feels like those who are immigrating now are coming too late..

I am personally not sure to stay as I see no way to avoid renting all my life..

Thanks for your comments

seems a bit like that... depressing innit!

Thought about living elsewhere?

Very hard. Sydney is beyond many locals now and one of the most expensive cities in the world. Think London prices. Such a shame. Other cities over inflated and interest rate declines are giving further fuel to the bubble.

The exchange rate is helping substantially though.

If you are selling a home in the UK and bringing the money over you should be okay.

It's not really only in Australia though. In the UK, London sucks up people, as that's where a lot of jobs/careers are. Same in other countries. It's a global problem. California has the 5th largest economy in the world. If you don't work on the biggest city you have to work in the top 3 or 4. It's where many industries are based.

It's just globalisation/capitalism/the modern world. Major cities attract so many. In my line of work, it's where all the career potential is (like it or not).

For this reason it can only get more expensive to live on these major cities.

It's not really only in Australia though. In the UK, London sucks up people, as that's where a lot of jobs/careers are. Same on other countries. It's a global problem. California has the 5th largest economy in the world.

 

It's just globalisation/capitalism/the modern world. Major cities attract so many. In my line of work, it's where all the career potential is (like it or not).

Difference being all Australia's main cities apart from Hobart are in that position. Most people live in cities with some 60% in Sydney and Melbourne alone. London while very expensive, being a major world tier one city, is hardly indicative of house prices all over UK.

In Australia Perth and Brisbane are still way up there. We don't have a lot of choice do to employment opportunities and fewer alternatives.

Poorly managed capitalism is to blame which looks like every chance of devouring itself through greed.

The exchange rate is helping substantially though.

If you are selling a home in the UK and bringing the money over you should be okay.

Helping overseas investors as well though making desirable Sydney and Melbourne especially out of reach of ordinary buyers. But it should for now assist newcomers from UK. A continued escalation in prices will suit few though outside of the vendors and real estate/banking industry. Neither much good for those living here and trying to enter the market.

I've kept my house in uk just in case ....u never know ...and it's not in a big city like London ...who would want to live in London ...my oh did perfectly fine in his career opportunities in uk ....ok he never got work on the doorstep just wouldn't happen for him where we from ...but he travelled ...or stayed over mon to fri ...once he took a relocation package but I still ended up back in my own town lol ...I will get on the property ladder here well I'm still hopeful I will that's what I've come for ...I want the house the pool the outdoor lifestyle that's what I'm here for because it offers nothing else to me lol just weather ...I love my uk home ...if it did end up going back and I don't know I'm not mystic meg ....I would convert my kitchen in to open plan ...convert my garage into a bar area ...and have a Bali but in my back garden with a hot tub ...I have it all worked out haha ...I'd have a conservatory put on ....and I won't have a big mortgage like I will end up having here lol but I still want it my hubby doesn't care either way lol

Tough eh. No easy answers.

If it helps, it's all 'first world problems'. It could be worse...

Still got our house in Scotland. It was on the market for 2 years and we had 2 viewers. It's now rented out but we are looking to put it back in the market again soon. We won't make any money from it at all but hopefully we'll be able to settle the mortgage. Been renting in Aus for 5 years too (in an area where median house prices are fast approaching $1M). Doesn't look like we'll be able to buy here any time soon, but if and when we do, hopefully the kids will have flown the nest by then and we'll just be looking for somewhere small. And relatively cheap. Not looking forward to being a new mortgagee in Aus as I approach my 50's. Looks like I'll be working well past retirement age! First world problems indeed. :-) could always just buy a campervan! :-)

Well to be honest ...I decided go back to me cleaning here because I'm good at it lol australia deffo needs my skill I'm telling ya lol ....these house are far to big and people just cannot keep on top of them ...sometimes I'm horrified in disbelief beyond words ...no point having a big house just for show if people carnt look after it ...I just couldn't live in it ....each to it's own I suppose ! I went a house otherday sitting round her pool with her mates kids all in private school talked with a plum in her mouth looked down on me ....why on earth she did I will never father that out in a million yrs I will leave it to your imagination on my thought bubble !

Here are some medians I found from Sep 2014 to give an idea of the difference:

Sydney $843,994

Melbourne $649,000

Darwin $610,000

Perth $535,000

Canberra $525,000

Brisbane $465,500

Adelaide $412,500

Hobart $360,000

Source: http://reia.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Cooling-housing-market-has-a-silver-lining.pdf

Just wait for the correction. WA has already experienced it in remote regions with houses dropping hundreds of thousands. Vested interests will resist though and banks have too much tied up in the housing market to make it soon. Unemployment and a decline in interest resulting in that could be the catalyst.

Not entirely a first world thing. Malaysia has over heated prices in KL and Penang and Mumbai in India as well. Where as prices have declined in Spain, Greece, Portugal and failed to gain real momentum in Germany and Japan has been in deflation mode since the 90's.

Cheap loans put fuel on the fire along with well past by used date tax concessions. I wouldn't buy now if needing a lot of leverage. Rates fall and rates rise. Sure as night becomes day.

To be fair I don't want a million $ house I want a good standard of living after paying my mortgage too I'll be happy around the 600k mark I will be satisfied lol

Just for your information there's a website called "numbeo" which can help compare cost of living, not only real estate. Comparing from the capital in my home country, salaries in Sydney are 50% higher and the cost for real estate is 100% higher... Quite depressing as there is talk about a real estate bubble in my home country too ... but I don't want to turn this thread into a "bubble or not bubble" discussion. The internet is full of articles about this topic, and not only about Sydney btw..

I've got the feeling prices could fall but that could never happen... I believe there must be many people in my situation who would like to stay but don't want it at the price of being tenants all their life...

Hi, I have owned property in Sydney 15 yrs ago.

Nowadays the prices anywhere within a comfortable distance of the CBD are absurd. Consider also that Sydney is also the highest taxed state more motorists IN THE WORLD ! Fines / tolls / registration of a vehicle is at extortion level.

Sad fact is it is actually going to get worse not better. One of the key reasons is the appetite of Charlie to own as much of Sydney as possible.

I will refrain from elaborating or getting too specific, just quietly !

Pardon typo's

For motorists

If you got on the ladder at the right time it sounds like a decent investment.

I don't know if anyone is familiar with Meriton apartments. Some of them are slapped up, slums of the future and not worth the asking price in the Sydney area.

It seems it's getting nearly impossible to buy a housing in Sydney unless you buy far from your job - with a long commute and decreased quality of life.

Of course, prices could fall and make housing affordable again but that day may never come. It feels like those who are immigrating now are coming too late..

I am personally not sure to stay as I see no way to avoid renting all my life..

 

 

That's one of the reasons we're moving back to the UK. I love living in Sydney but we want to be comfortable in our retirement. To buy a nice house in a nice suburb would take up all our capital and leave nothing to live on! We could move to the outer 'burbs but I see no point - all that's nice about Sydney is to be found in the expensive areas, that's why they're expensive.

My attitude would be different, I'm sure, if I had kids. Outer West suburbs that seem soulless and isolated to me are probably different if your focus is on kids' activities and mothers' clubs.

It's important to remember that house prices in other cities (except Canberra) are noticeably lower so if you can find work elsewhere, the sums still add up.

To be fair I don't want a million $ house I want a good standard of living after paying my mortgage too I'll be happy around the 600k mark I will be satisfied lol

If you want to live in Sydney, there are no houses under a million dollars in a nice area. $600k will buy you a plot of land.

I don't know if anyone is familiar with Meriton apartments. Some of them are slapped up, slums of the future and not worth the asking price in the Sydney area.

I have a wonderful story about Harry Triguboff, who owns Meriton.

I was talking to a builder for a construction job. He told me he'd worked as a foreman on a block of Meriton apartments once. He was inspecting the kitchen installer's work and found a line of wall cabinets that weren't hung straight - he didn't even need a spirit level, you could see they were on a drunken angle. He was just tearing the installer off a strip when Triguboff walked in and asked what was going on.

Triguboff said, "No, don't change it. We'll fix it IF the buyer asks for it to be fixed. That's how we work here."

My builder told Triguboff he couldn't work like that, he felt it wasn't ethical. Triguboff said, "If you can't follow my rules, you can't work for me" - so he quit.

I have a wonderful story about Harry Triguboff, who owns Meriton.

 

I was talking to a builder for a construction job. He told me he'd worked as a foreman on a block of Meriton apartments once. He was inspecting the kitchen installer's work and found a line of wall cabinets that weren't hung straight - he didn't even need a spirit level, you could see they were on a drunken angle. He was just tearing the installer off a strip when Triguboff walked in and asked what was going on.

 

Triguboff said, "No, don't change it. We'll fix it IF the buyer asks for it to be fixed. That's how we work here."

 

My builder told Triguboff he couldn't work like that, he felt it wasn't ethical. Triguboff said, "If you can't follow my rules, you can't work for me" - so he quit.

Yes, I've heard a few stories about Harry and his fixtures and fittings. The reason the wall cabinets wouldn't hang straight is the concrete slab floors are not quite straight and flat so the carpenters have to try and accommodate the doors/cabinets for that flaw. They are built as cheaply as Harry can get away with :cute:

The house prices in Sydney do suck, that's for sure. If the transport infrastructure were up to date already, it would be so much easier to contemplate living further out from the CBD. Still determined to get on the ladder though, even if the commute is ridiculous.