flag of convenience Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 As is housing in the UK.... main difference is that in Australia you have substantially higher share of the population living in large metropolitan cities with corresponding higher housing prices. (though I am bracing myself for even worse building quality once I get to Australia, though given the low quality in the UK I don't expect it will be too bad. But that's material for a whole different thread) Afraid over the top housing prices is a fairly recent thing. Little justification apart from massive increased immigration and a government unwilling to allow the free market to dictate price at least to date. At the moment prices are again surging in many cities due to demand and no doubt a degree of panic with regards to further increases,especially with interest rates on a downward direction. Major problems ahead in the worlds most over inflated housing market ahead. A rather sorry state of affairs all round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 I disagree, I have lived in regional Australia and the outback for many years and now I live in Perth. I will tell you straight away that rents are hugely expensive in the country too. As for remote? Well they are out of this world. Depends on where in the countryside but down south WA prices are certainly over the top in housing and most other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love Shoes Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Well the problem seems to be more and more people cant afford it. When we had our last property inspection the agent who came round to the house commented that the banks had started repossessing properties ... so it would seem that the &*(^ is finally starting to hit the fan ..... the prices of property in OZ is ridiculous for what you get ... some are very little better than a glorified shed .. albeit made out of metal ... we saw one a couple of weeks of for $295,000 ...... the same thing in the UK would have been condemned .... Not everyone is earning high wages here, my OH isn't on these mega buck salaries I keep on hearing about so if we do decide to buy a property it will be land then self build .... maybe a tent .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinsmom65 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Just wanted to share what $500 a week will get you just north of Toronto, in Canada, just to show how ridicules the prices are in Australia. http://www.rentershotline.ca/rentalBoxView.php Cheers Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 How come the vacancy rate is so low if nobody can afford the rents? Centrelink have this cool little benefit called rent allowance, much like housing benefit for the people on low income in UK to afford a private rental. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Rent allowance is very small. I am actually amazed at how much housing benefit is given in the UK, here in Oz it is minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 How come the vacancy rate is so low if nobody can afford the rents? Centrelink have this cool little benefit called rent allowance, much like housing benefit for the people on low income in UK to afford a private rental. Because people have to pay it, what choice is there ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Fact: We pay $650 per week rent in Como, south of Perth city. We viewed many properties for less than $650 a week and refused to live in a tip or a box. We are not happy about it. I earn well over $ 100,000 a year. Any way you compare $ to £, black to white, English to Australian, apples to pears the rents are ridiculous. We cannot afford to live here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobj Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Small supply, big demand... Simple. Cheers, Bobj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 So people are just being ripped off then ? Small supply, big demand... Simple. Cheers, Bobj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobj Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 So people are just being ripped off then ? Your words, not mine. Cheers, Bobj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttercup Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 To add Insult to Injury, most of the aussie rentals we looked at when we lived there, were either glorified tin boxes that were very poorly constructed and just very badly made. The older one's well I wouldn't even let my dog live In there. It's just a big p**s take really. They simply charge these stupid prices because they can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 (edited) This report is more relevant to buyers than the renters in the OP but interesting none the less. Report from Dec 2012 so still very relevant. It certainly rings true for Brisbane as house prices have been far softer/declining for the last 3 years and with wages still increasing you would expect affordability to improve. Conversly I have noticed a few articles recently saying rent has increased. "Housing Affordability Improves Across the Country Housing affordability in Australia improved again during the December 2012 to reacha level 68.9. This represents an increaseof 5.5 per cent on the previous quarterand means that the index is 18.4 per cent higher than twelve months earlier. The affordability index has increased for eight consecutive quarters and it now stands 27.4 per cent higher than its level of December 2010 quarter. The affordability of dwellings in regional Australia continued to improve, with the affordability index at a near decade high.The affordability situation in cities has also improved markedly over the past number of quarters and is at its highest level since mid-2009. Affordability improved in every capital city during the December 2012 quarter and also increased in the regional areas of every state." More: http://www.afr.com/rw/2009-2014/AFR/2013/03/21/Photos/383ef3ca-91be-11e2-9e2c-9d27ef4e6daa_2012-12%20Affordability%20Report.pdf Edited May 4, 2013 by fish.01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akiralx Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 So people are just being ripped off then ? If the high rents are caused by the principle of supply and demand that is the one definition of not being ripped off, I would have thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1977 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Rental prices are high but ... " you get to live in the greatest place in the world " so I'm told by my untraveled, uncultured Australian friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvesaussie Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Buying a house, yes thats crazy prices but renting is reasonable, at least in Melbourne i think. We currently pay 15% our joint income in rent in Birmingham UK. I am expecting rent to take up 17% of our income in Melbourne, so not that much different really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmaclec Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Rental prices are high but ... " you get to live in the greatest place in the world " so I'm told by my untraveled, uncultured Australian friends. LOL I hear that a lot from Aussies i work with too and when i ask where they have been in the world some have not even been out of WA let alone Australia! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1977 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 LOL I hear that a lot from Aussies i work with too and when i ask where they have been in the world some have not even been out of WA let alone Australia! Yes mate, a few weeks ago I asked one of them " do you get jet lag going to Bali " .. It was funny to me but went straight over his head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 You get Bali Belly instead. The rents haven't gone up that much round here compared with 5 or 6 years ago. Don't come if you can't afford it I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 You get Bali Belly instead. The rents haven't gone up that much round here compared with 5 or 6 years ago. Don't come if you can't afford it I guess. Again, it keeps the riffraff out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I think the rents are way too high, most people on average wage would struggle to pay them. People have to live somewhere. I looked at a unit yesterday for someone and it was ok but the carpet was dire clean but falling apart, why should people pay top dollar for this. Also the locks were all loose etc. Landlords get the money but a lot think that its where it ends taking the money. Its time the negative gearing was taken off and house prices could drop to a normal level. No reason for us to have some of the most expensive housing in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chris955 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Yes, exactly. I think the rents are way too high, most people on average wage would struggle to pay them. People have to live somewhere. I looked at a unit yesterday for someone and it was ok but the carpet was dire clean but falling apart, why should people pay top dollar for this. Also the locks were all loose etc. Landlords get the money but a lot think that its where it ends taking the money. Its time the negative gearing was taken off and house prices could drop to a normal level. No reason for us to have some of the most expensive housing in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1977 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Again, it keeps the riffraff out! To late, the northerners got in when it was cheap.!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 If it's too expensive, then people will leave. As they seem to be in increasing numbers. There are other sunny places in the world you can live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 If it's too expensive, then people will leave. As they seem to be in increasing numbers. There are other sunny places in the world you can live. What, the entire struggling part of the Australian population? The discussion about extortionate rents on here is not limited to immigrants, but rather to the population as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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