sign

Can I ask why. I was looking at Perth maybe for a year. My companion is a nurse. Are things quite bad.

carcajou

They are - even nurses not immune - they are no longer anywhere near in demand as they once were.

carcajou

Look, it's not impossible, but I would not move without doing a recce first specifically to scout out your job prospects.

teza

WA has the highest unemployment in the country at the moment and when you live in a country where jobs comes based on not what you know, but who you know, it might be hard. I know dozens of tradies with 10-20 yrs local experience working at anything they can get, may it be cleaning, checkout chicks to fully without no work in foreseeable future. Mining downturn brought all those locally qualified back from the north, and also the state is pretty much broke. So not trying to put a downer on your plans but that's your competition for jobs.

Amazulu

That happens in every country - certainly in the UK at least. I've had it work for and against me - in Australia and the UK

Amazulu

I agree with Northernbird - not the time to be moving to WA. The economy is improving - new mining projects starting this year for instance - but it will be a while before this translates to increasing employment - and there are plenty of locals to fill theses jobs without the need for migrants

Nursing also affected - plenty of nurses out if work. The state government is grappling with a large deficit and is restructuring which will lead to job losses. This is a good thing for the state in the long run but not good for the individuals affected

spouse of scouse

I'm sad to hear that things aren't too good there. I know that house prices in Perth had taken a tumble at the time I left (18 months ago). Fingers crossed that the improvement you've mentioned keeps up.

Beoz

A correction

spouse of scouse

From my perspective, it was only a tumble rather that a tumble, because a nice young Chinese couple loved the house and paid over the odds

Amazulu

I don't really comment on house prices as opinions are like assholes etc - and nearly all commentary on the subject is just that - opinions. I guess prices are down but not by much if you look at the long-term. Prices around here are stable and properties are selling. That's going to be my only input into the subject

Reality is that although the economy is struggling somewhat, things aren't that bad (my opinion only - I'm not going to debate it). There is still tons of construction going on and much more planned. My wife recently started a well-paying full-time job. The shopping centre carparks are full and people are still spending money. You can often struggle to get a table at a decent restaurant and go to the cinema and you queue your ass off. You need to remember that Perth is the wealthiest city in the Southern Hemisphere and that average full-time salaries are 2nd only to Canberra - with a COL that is only marginally higher (and falling) than East Coast cities. There is a lot of money in this city and some of it is being utilised to keep people going. We live in a city that is at the mercy of economic cycles - and we are coming out of a trough in one of those cycles. It is what it is

xizzles

When there are people (or idiots) like me thinking of buying into the market in Perth, I reckon Amazulu can't be too wide off the mark there...

Beoz

You think natural resources has future then?

xizzles

Well, I think it will never be without a future - how's that for a qualified answer. Its importance may have been overshadowed/overtaken by what technology can compensate at the moment, and shale gas/oil is an example, but when the reality of contaminated water tables and deformed babies and cancer rates in children climb because of the run-offs and the pollution hit home, don't be surprised to see "peak oil" and "peak oil prices" back in the lexicon of the traders. Just don't say you didn't read it here first.

Having said that, I'm not buying into Perth because of what the future promises. I'm thinking of buying into Perth for a viable punt at a visa run. It's a back up plan of a back up plan (the business in Sydney is my first back up), should the venture goes pear shaped. I'm doing everything possible I can to ensure that Australia is given as little excuse as possible to kick a 50-odd-year old fogey off its shores when the time for the RRV is due. Well, everything possible short of flipping keeping to the 2 years residency requirement which simply isn't viable at the moment.

Beoz

All sounds fair to me. The contaminated land business is booming. I do wonder though, if the contaminated land lessons have been learned and the next gen of petrol stations, land fill, and run off sources will have been controlled and have the tech to sort it out.

That said, the detection and clean up methods will be equal to the task and that business will continue to boom.

Invest in that one

spouse of scouse

Ta for your perspective Zulu.