wren

The front of the West Australian this weekend.... "WA housing boom starts to stumble"..... Any thoughts or advice would be very welcome. Same dilemma as everyone else here I suppose- should we buy straight away incase property keeps on rising in price, or risk waiting and hope it either levels out or crashes?

We have looked at some absolute crap this weekend gone- small, grubby and in my opinion HUGELY overpriced

We visited Perth this time last year, looked at some beautiful houses in Secret Harbour and surrounding suburbs, and at the prices we would have been virtually mortgage free. Now it seems for the same properties we will need a mortgage equivalent to the one we had in the UK

Yes we were aware of the increases before we set off, so please don't say we should have done more research!!!

Any advice or donations welcome

Banksia

Meanwhile, on the east coast

http://tinyurl.com/p33z2

wren

That's exactly what's worrying me. Am wondering if the Perth market eventually always follows the East coast? Or is it totally different here?

geordie downunder

Six to 8 weeks ago they were saying that the median price would be 1 million in a few years,nobody can predict the future,nothing can be proved by an opinion poll.If 3000 people say the bust is coming are you going to make a decision on that basis,if 3000 people say the boom will never end are you going to decide on that basis.Not much use to you but you will have to make the choice yourself,and then have no regrets if you are right or wrong.For decades prices in Perth have been much lower than eastern states,for decades they have been predicting there would be a catch up phase,perhaps this is it.

wren

Erm....not sure.....what do you think?

JoandStuV

We are arriving in Perth on the 21st September and the house prices online/stories of people camping for days to buy overpriced land are scaring me silly! When we first planned our move a couple of years back we could have brought a place outright, whereas now we will also be looking at a decent sized mortgage. I suppose it was unrealistic to think that Perth would sit back and wait for us to arrive before having it's boom!

Starting to think the East Coast might be the place for us. We'll prob arrange to do a reccie over East once we arrive and see how things compare. Thought Sydney was lovely when we visited but were put off by high house prices at the time

Perthforme

Was talking to an estate agent who was outa work mode and he says the market has peaked !
I think it has too but wot do i know
It may go higher, it may not , but think you could start making offers on houses now . A few seam to be slower to sell now !!!

Watch this space

wren

Thanks, was wondering if anyone knew an agent who would say that! We have spoken to a few who are obviously trying to hype things up, one who said it has slowed down considerably in the last four weeks, and today we went into an agent who handed us a pile of details then started crossing the prices out saying " That's reduced by $10-15,000" and "You could make an offer on that" etc. It seems up until now people have been getting above the asking price!

breezeboylan

That sounds promising then. We have more or less decided not to buy when we get there. I dont want to risk starting a new life in Aus with an over priced house to pay out for. We are planning on renting for a year or so and seeing what happens to the market and also getting a feel for the areas. I just hope we can get the right rental when we get over :scared:
Tracie

northerner

Yeah, we're with you Tracie. We're heading to Sydney but will definitely be renting for 6 months absolute minimum, probably a year, maybe even longer if we don't feel confident enough in the market. In the meantime, capital from our house sale here will be sat in a high interest account.

Seems the logical thing to do at the moment...

Graham

wren

Hey Tracie!

How's it going? You still in the pub?....It's nearly Sept! Any news on the visa front? Hope everything is going ok.

wren x

breezeboylan

Hiya Wren, yea we are still at the Pub until sep 30th and then we go to stay with my SIL for 2 weeks then over to Ireland for a few weeks to say goodbye to everyone there and then off to Perth the start of Nov. No visa yet but have got a CO who requested my PC checks which were received this morning so hopefully we will here soon. Have you started work yet? How are you finding Perth?
Tracie

breezeboylan

I agree and the way I look at it is that rent is not dead money anymore then the Interest you pay on a mortgage. At least while renting you have the freedom to move areas if not happy.
tracie

wren

Sounds like you are nearly there! I start work in two weeks time. Kids started school today and really enjoyed it. Will PM you tomorrow with our news- all good except the house prices! Off to bed now

breezeboylan

Ok night night, look forward to hearing your news.
tracie