Battleneter

I am in IT as well so need to stay within a "sane" commute of the CBD. We live in Springfield on the south side around. Takes me 45 minutes to door (10 minutes drive to train station with small wait, 25 on the train, and 10 minutes walk in CDB). I would suggest these south West areas fit your needs, all very middle class so to speak and decent community feel. Some areas offer better value than others and all a bit different. Springfield Springfield Lakes Forest Lakes Augustine heights I would rule out North Side of the city as any commute to the Gold Coast would be too far, but also like North Lakes over that way. *** Check internet availability before you rent or buy, thee are still small pockets in these areas where DSL ports are not available and Springfield is the only area with Cable, prob important as you are in IT.

There is clearly a property bubble here in Aus. Queensland prices have already fallen around 10% off there peak however have currently flattened out. I believe prices still have a way to go, maybe another 10% but it will happen over the next 5 years. When you factor in inflation that makes housing a really poor "investment". Australia doesn't seem to have a over capacity of houses unlike Ireland where prices have plummeted, however I certainly don't buy into the shortage spin either. As for renting, we found out a few weeks ago here in Springfield (Brisbane) one of the houses on our street is a rental. Long story short in the pathetic 10 minute allotment the agent gave to show the house, we counted 13 vehicles or groups of people go through, still had people showing up as she drove off. They were mostly middle class driving nice cars with families. Have to admit I was a little shocked as I had believed the "rental shortage" stories of late to be another media fabrication on behalf of there main customers (the real estate industry). Having said all that, if you are buying a house for a long term "home" then I don't believe you will be saving $$ over renting for a number of years especially when you factor in the currently low return on savings. Lastly renting sucks.

oooooow yea

yep http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15198789 ""The way the central bank does this is by buying assets - usually financial assets such as government and corporate bonds - using money it has simply created out of thin air.""

What you read is wrong at least the context. "New" mining investment is coming to a end at least for the time being, benefits from mining are set to continue for decades. There are however other threats to the Aus economy such as the ongoing currency war and the housing bubble. As I just posted in another thread, the devaluing £ and $US is mostly because of money printing by the US and UK. A slightly stronger or weaker Aus economy has little to do with the exchange rate, Traditional economics no longer apply. Even if the RBA lowers the rate to 0 it would only have a temporary limited effect as seen with recent rate cuts. If Aus starts also printing money to counter, the story will be different. The UK has printed over £300 in the last 3 years!!, that is buying growth at the expense of devaluing the £. The UK can't keep printing money forever, don't think I need to come up with examples of why that's a bad idea. I suggest transfer soon, the US is about to do "QE3" and the UK has already printed this year, seems to be the current policy with no sign of a change.