Grayling

Hi
I have a few more observations from my trip.

I went to a few places to try and judge what things would cost.

As far as houses are concerned my budget would be around $500000.I wanted to know what I could get for that.

The first day we were in Sydney we were invited to my cousin's house in North Bondi for the evening.
My cousin lives with her husband and two boys in a three bedroomed detatched house. It is nice, has a small pool, small garden and fairly big rooms. It is on what I would describe as an ordinary suburban road, much like an English suburb.Nothing really special.
The house is fairly old with big rooms.They are renting the house. It is on the market for 1.8 million dollars
They rent it for $950 per week

They own an apartment in Bondi which is too small for them now so choose to rent. Her husband is an expat but has been in Australia for 20+ years. He runs his own business in the financial sector and rents business properties so is 'au fait' with rental etc.

I thought this was a huge amount of rent considering it must be close to the average income per year.
Just something to cnsider if you want to live in Sydney.
I am sure BP or ABC could comment further.

We also went to Adelaide and to the Central coast.
To be honest to buy the sort of house I would like in the area I would like will probably cost me my half million dollars.
Adelaide was very expensive in parts.I did not go everywhere but where my son lives,in Norwood, it would cost me at least that.
There are cheaper houses in Adelaide but this is not meant to be a step backwards (I have posted pictures of where I live so those who have seen them will know what I mean).
Places like Glenelg now cost in the Millions if you want to be near the sea.

Most of the time we spent around Lake Macquarie up to Port Macquarie.
Prices around the lake would be around $400000. If it is anywhre near the lake you could double that. Again,I did not go everywhere so others may know different.
In Newcastle houses overlooking the sea were also in the millions or very close.
It seems much the same all the way up the coast especially in a town of any size. Inland is cheaper but not by much. Some areas are very cheap ($250000) but tend to be holiday places with,I would imagine little work.
These prices are much higher than when I last visited about 3 years ago.
I suspect the idea that Australia is the place for cheap houses is a thing of the past.
Also do your homework as a lot of Estate agent Hype can be very misleading!!
We are thinking of moving to the Lake Macquarie area so would be interested in other's views/experiences

G

NickyC

I'd agree with your prices. Any decent detached house costs from 1.5m up in the Eastern Suburbs. More if they're close to the beach and much, much more if they have a harbour or sea view.

Even 2 b/r units in a good spot cost half a million and upwards.

$950 a week rent is a lot, but not that unusual. In a lot of cases the sky-high rentals are paid by a company or business and don't actually come out of the individual's pocket.

The supposed average annual income of Australians always seems extremely low to me - maybe this is just what's declared to the tax man(?). There must be huge numbers of people here who earn much more than the average - or who is renting these properties?
I don't know the Lake Macquarie area particularly well, but a friend has a holiday house at Budgewoi on Lake Tuggerah, the next lake down from Lake Macquarie. He loves it and is planning on moving there permanently eventually. Apparantly prices have risen enormously in the last five years. It's popular with cashed-up Sydney retirees and also close enough to Sydney to be weekender territory.

Muzza04

The apartments on "the Block" in Manly fetched over $800,000. They are only yards from the beach.

Since last being in Sydney 3 years ago, prices have gone thru the roof. Just like in UK.

Is there gonna be an end to this ridiculous housing boom?

renth

Hopefully about 1 week after I sell my house in the UK, but before I buy my Australian one.

What are the chances of that?

Muzza04

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