any one know how the current housing market is going ie up or down in aus as i am hoping down but you never know how your luck is

Hi not out there, so don't hold me to this, but I have been reliably informed that house prices are on the up, (not like the UK mind)
Cheers
Maddie

In Perth there has been a huge rise in the past year or so.... I mean huge!

The current prediction (which changes weekly) is that prices are beginning to stablise and could even drop. Whatever happens it's clear that they are high and buying at the top of the market is a gamble, but if they keep on rising it would be a great investment..... who knows?!

Certainly here in the Perth rises have been massive and I think the days of making big bucks in the current market are well and truly over. I bought 6 months ago, I wouldn't be buying now. I think the market here has done its major rising and certainly will only register small gains now, if any at all. The market is now very slow and there are 3 houses in my street that have been on for a couple of months now

All the indications show that some areas may record slight falls but personally, and I am no expert, I can't see the massive drops some people are talking about.

Stable on the east coast, maybe dropping slightly in parts.
Rising on the west coast, although there are signs prices are stabilising.
Overall, stable.

Not sure what the market is going to do next year, but in the local real estate magazine they printed some figures for this year.

Sydney, house prices went up by 1.4% this year.
Perth, they went up by 45.9% (no, that's not a typo).

Brisbane went up 0.9% this quarter.
Sydney 0.2%
Melbourne 1.7%
and Perth 10.1%

Wish I owned in Perth.

Spoke with a couple of estate agents recently in Brisbane, I know you shouldn't trust them with anything but they reckon the next big boom will not be until 2010 and that current prices may dip a bit before them. How they know is another matter, but they're in the business.

Sorry, I seem to have mislaid my crystal ball...

Having worked in Estate Agents (in admin not sales), i wouldn't believe a word they said!!!

Pinch of salt and all that!!

The figure for Oz as a whole is really no use to you as you'll only live in one small part of it. Even in the cities, Sydney particularly, there's a huge variation depending on which suburbs you're talking about.

If the indications in Sydney are anything to go by, the areas that saw the biggest increases over the last few years (mainly out west), are now seeing the biggest stagnation - i.e. they are overpriced. However, the better suburbs will always be expensive and are unlikely to fall in value, in a down market they just hold their value.

Big.

they have been saying the same for years here in the u.k that the house prices are about to drop..not happened yet though..

i remember about two years ago they were telling people to sell their houses,rent ,wait for the drop and then get back on the ladder,i bet those people are sick as pigs now..

i wonder if in perth the house prices will continue to rise with the amount of brits snapping up property and flooding the market with u.k cash??

is there a saying "there is never a right time to buy a house"??

There's a magazine we've just discovered called 'Queensland Property and Lifestyle' - it comes out quarterly and has the latest house price index (by region) plus articles about new developments, buy to let, etc.

You can apparently buy it in newsagents in Oz (12 dollars) but we ordered a few copies from the web - not cheap but we have found it useful.

www.propertylifestyle.com.au

Queensland prices looking pretty healthy, varies according to area.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...59-952,00.html