NKSK version 2

music to my ears I can tell you...but perhaps not for all..

The West Australian

ABCDiamond

From your link: If he is right, the investors may pull out of WA, and head back over to the East Coast, as, if he says, we have hit the bottom and are beginning to climb again, over here

lynnj

I would imagine there are many reasons for the new build market slowing down.

It is no longer the cheap option that it was compared to buying an established property, 3 years ago you could have picked up a block in a new develpoment for $60k now it's $150k, the cost of the build too has gone up. Add to this the time it takes, i think the average is around 14months compared to the 7-9 months it took a few years ago. Many people cannot afford to finance this while paying to keep a roof over their heads while its being built.

Having your home built is a big dream for many people but it is sadly becoming less affordable for many.

Judging by the speed at which most properties are selling at the moment i can't see any way that the WA market has peaked.

Lynn

NKSK version 2

Well it's still early days and this could be a temporary blip before it takes off again but The Australian the other day placed Perth nearly at the top of the cycle - which reinforces the figures in The West.

As I've said before, my own view is that it's just wild over here - I've never seen anything like it. Not just a buying and building frenzy but also the kind of hyperactivity and panic buying where houses get snapped up within days of going on the market.
It feels as though you can sell a cabbage patch, put a few bricks on it and a corrugated iron roof and it will sell. All rationality seems to have gone out of the market. It reminds me of the dotcom bom of 1999. Now I don't think that the bubble will necessarily burst but the kind of activity seen recently surely can't continue. The article in The West seems to suggest that the market is slowly realising the unaffordability and irrationality of the situation.

webgum

The quarterly property report in the Saturday West Australian was all gung ho about prospects, and much tho' I too would love a slow down, there was still nearly a 25% increase in prices in the last 12 months. I shall continue to watch and wait. And hope.

NKSK version 2

Yes but tye quarterley report is funded by advertisers.

Who are the advertisers?!!!!

webgum

Oh god, another depressing thing about the West Australian!

lynnj

The truth of the matter is that a house in WA will cost you more this month than it would have 2 months ago, or 6 months ago, or 2 years ago.........

Nobody can tell you if the prices will continue to rise, so called "experts" can predict but nobody out there has a cast iron guarantee.

It's up to you to take the chance of buying now or waiting and buying later, if you don't you have to be prepared to pay more for the same place down the line if you got it wrong, if you do and you're wrong you have to be prepared to hang on to the home until the market gets back up there again. It's a risk we have all had to take.

All i know for sure is, i wouldn't be able to buy my house now, if i had not taken the chance and bought when i did then i would have to look at cheaper alternatives now. There are still many areas in Perth which are affordable to most and represent a good investment.

Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

Lynn

NKSK version 2

I think that most worrying thing for new arrivals is the pressure placed on them to buy quickly - this has been acute for the last x years in Perth.

My view is not so much timing - i.e. that you wait and wait for the market to drop - but more about relieving the pressure for new arrivals (like myself). There are signs that it might not be that crucial to buy land quickly and engage a dodgy builder just to beat the inevitable price rises.

worzel

This is close to our hearts as we just signed up for a 12 month lease and are already thinking about breaking it before prices rise any further.

In the long term, WA's resource-linked economy is likely to hit a downslope at sometime and it hits harder here than elsewhere which could mean a big drop in prices. But it could be many years before it gets to that state.

But in the short term the only two options I can foresee is a continuation of the boom or a levelling out. I don't see how prices can fall in the next 12 months short of a terrorist attack or tsunami scale event.

bal56

I know what you mean about needing to get in there Worzel. We've held off for 6 1/2 months on a year's rental contract, but are going to have to break it soon, whilst we've got any chance of buying in the suburbs we like.

steve99

Your spot on Lynn, exactly the same situation for us that if we hadnt bought when we did we'd now be looking at either an extra $250k+ on the mortgage or not being able to live here.
I still cant see any drop in prices happening in the short term, just because people have finally wised up that a 18-24month wait for builds to be completed I cant see that this will have a negative effect on overall sales in the WA market, if anything I would think it justfies the arguement that established property is turning over quicker than ever as theres now more demand for it.
If we are to see a dip in prices we're a long way of it happening, there's nothing obvious to start it, even if it say happened in 2 years the prices then are likely to be say 20% higher than they are now, surely anyone holding out for a drop has got to be working on at least a 20% reduction on where were at now, so its a pretty big risk in my mind to hope thats it going to fall back nearly 35% from its peak.
If you have no confidence in the market being able to maintain its level, dont buy, rent instead, you get a hell of a lot more for your money versus sticking it in a mortgage.
Steve

renth

We live in a fantastic house, pool, sea views, the lot and we rent. People ask us why we "waste" money renting and it's because if we did have a mortgage, for the same rent we are paying we'd barely be able to afford a $300,000 house rather than the $1,000,000 one we currently live in.

We do still own a lovely house in the UK and we can't bring ourselves to sell it.

People have spoken about things like terrorist attacks or Tsunamis but there are a couple of much more likely things that could affect house prices in Australia - bird flu and peak oil. The first might not happen the second will, possibly very soon and could cause a major economic collapse.

Bella Donna

http://www.ga.gov.au/urban/geohazard...ami_ausgeo.jsp

Interesting, and maybe not implausible when you consider that the earth's oceans are predicted to rise substantially with the melting of the polar icecaps....?

NKSK version 2

We're in a very similar position. I wouldn't say that our house is lovely in the UK but we wouldn't sell it as the market is flat at best in the UK whilst here it is frothy.
We are just about to take a rental in a great house which we would have no hope of buying. As long as we keep the UK house we will continue to rent here for at least a couple of years. We may actually rent indefinitely and just buy a small investment property in a part of WA in which we would not want to live. That way, we get to live in a great area but still get some kind of foot on the WA property market.