melaniee

Wouldn't most ?!

NKSK version 2

Exactly, most would.

The trouble is most aren't earning that much. And what I want to know is, are those earning more modest salaries - e.g. less than 80K - still as happy?

(Especially those who arrived in Perth late in relation to the property boom - i.e. those who haven't made a killing on a house)

It's easy for those who bought at the start of the boom, or those who command very high slaraies to sit back and say, come on in the water's lovely.

Many people arriving in Perth now won't be earning well over $100K nor will they be about to make a killing on the property market.

(There's actually a chance that those buying today will be in negative equity in 12 months time)

steve99

I have a number of friends/colleagues who have arrived here in the past 9months, they cannot stop talking about how lucky they feel to of escaped the UK and to now be able to call Perth home. None of them have made anything from the property boom and would have a salary somewhere in the $70-$100K bracket.

You only make a killing on a house when you come to sell it, you've then got to buy something else, you could move to a totally different location or maybe downsize but thats not generally something most would want to do. sure i'd rather be sitting in a place I know is worth more than I paid for it, but its largely irrelevant. You dont suddenly say Oh my house is worth a $100K more than it was last year excellent i'll push the collect button and the coins will come out of the wall

Just like its easy for those that had ample opportunity to buy but kept crying on about the market being overpriced and not good value and that a crash was imminent blah blah, to be 2 years down the track and now in the realisation that they were wrong and dont have anything to show for it and all they can now do is say is Perth's not all its cracked up to be.

There's plenty of opportunities for the astute buyer to make money in this property market, but buying a house shouldnt be all about making money, your usually buying a home. Like I said before unless your planning on sitting in somewhere till its reached a certain price point and then moving on to somewhere cheaper your not really making money.

melaniee

I like that idea ! Where's the machine !?

NKSK version 2

I take it you're referring to me?

Well, I wasn't crying on about the market being overpriced 2 years ago. I had only just arrived 2 years ago.

I certainly have been saying that the market is overpriced for the last 12-15 months. I think it was then and it is now (in relation to salaries).

Just because it's more overpriced now doesn't mean that it wasn't overpriced then.

As for this being somehow related to me thinking that Perth isn't all it's cracked up to be...well, if you read posts of mine from May last year (and possibly earlier) I was already saying that Perth (and Australia) wasn't all that it was cracked up to be - just 9 months after arrival.

Over the weekend I've spoken to two families - one of which I bumped into at a restaurant because our kids struck up a bit of a relationship. They are leaving this week after 4 years. Had enough of Perth, don't think it's all it is cracked up to be.

Another family I know reasonably well are leaving in 4 weeks - same reasons after being here for 1 year.

I don't think Perth is all bad, it just doesn't generate the same gushing enthusiasm in me as it does in some others - sure if the house prices were more realistic then this wouild offset some of the downsides of the place. But house prices are very expensive in relation to salaries and this makes the city less liveable.

And the fact that there are so many families who leave Perth - in spite of the many which arrive - suggests that there are some acute issues about the place which many people can't reconcile.

Three Legs

All very irrelevant.

Perth isn't for you ... end of.

We can relate to all viewpoints. Perth equally gets on our t#ts as much as we love the place. It's a very odd place, somethings missing, something I can't quite put my finger on. That said, it's still a great place to live.

Property is pricey, no doubt about that and I can see how some new arrivals would struggle to make ends meet on an average income.

We get the keys to our new place this week ... the photo's will be posted soon ...

Exile

A pulse, perhaps?

Exile

This is precisely why I struggle with being in Perth.

I've done pretty well on property and I have a good income. The problem I have is that I don't have to be in Perth to get that income, unlike some of the mining/resources-related people.

This raises the issue, do I like Perth enough to justify staying here when I could move to Dorset and have a much smaller mortgage, or move back to Japan and have no mortgage and a pile of cash in the bank.

I quite like it here in many ways, but at that cost? I think not (wife isn't so sure, which causes problems).

Perth to me is extremely one-dimensional. It just happens to be a very nice and comfortable dimension, but I do think this place brings out the worst in me.

asprilla

What is it about Perth that generates so many debates? I've never actually been there, but I can't believe its that different from the rest of Australia.

Amazulu

I'm in resources and could earn a similar income in Queensland but prefer Perth as I think Queensland is a dump. I could earn a similar income in the UK or Canada but prefer Perth as I feel it is one of the best places in the world to live.

Amazulu

It isn't. It is better than the rest of Australia though.

asprilla

Heh heh...good answer !

I_Will_Freckle

Well we have only visited so far and I must say that I wasn't "blown away" by Perth but could see its potential for a nice lifestyle.

We actually like the fact that it is a bit "backward". I think it's good that shops close sometimes, people don't work late etc. It forces us all to slow down.

steve99

Sorry I was a couple of months out, it was back around Nov/Dec 2005 when you were starting posts saying it was way overpriced and that you didnt think it could continue and wouldnt buy as you were waiting for it to come down...
Take somewhere like Doubleview, late 2005 the average price was around the $400K mark, now it would probably be worth around $650K.
Cheaper example take Kinross, late 2005 the average price was around the $300K mark, now it would probably be worth around $450K.
If you had of wanted to regardless of what level of the market you were at you could of made so called money out of the market.

Just because your saying the same thing for 12 or 15 or 24 months, doesnt mean your going to change it...

So you have a long hard think about it for many months then, yet your still here unable to commit to doing anything about it....

If Utopia existed it would be packed solid by now, where ever you go you'll find people who havent made it work for them and decide to move on, relative to the people coming I would hazard a guess that Perth has one of the lowest amounts going in the opposite direction.

BadgeIsBack

You can push a button! It's called Leverage, and many people do use the equity in their homes to get richer in property or to fund or pay for the lifestyle they couldn't afford.