balkanghost

From the Economist:

Once again, cheap money is driving up asset prices. THE opening of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, in Dubai on January 4th had symbolic as well as architectural significance. Skyscrapers have long been associated with the ends of financial booms.

In housing, a measure based on rents shows that American prices are back to fair value but prices in Britain, France, Spain and Australia are all 30-50% above their historic averages. Low mortgage rates (and government schemes to head off foreclosures) have stopped prices falling to the lows of previous downturns. That said, although prices remain higher than average, private investors have shown little of the enthusiasm they exhibited in past bubbles. Activity in the housing market is subdued. Investors withdrew $36 billion from developed-market equity funds in the course of 2009, according to EPFR Global, a data group.


From the ABC:

Drowning in Debt In all the self-congratulations over how Australia has managed to sidestep the GFC, an inconvenient truth has been overlooked: the crisis was caused by too much debt, and Australian households have had a stronger love affair with debt than even the Americans. As of the latest RBA figures, Australian households now owe the equivalent of an entire year's GDP - three per cent more than Americans ever owed. We grew our debt pile much faster than Americans did. We are continuing to go deeper into debt, while American households have started to reduce theirs. And in one of the great travesties of our GFC sidestep, the most recent growth in household debt has been deliberately engineered by government policy.


This may suggest that if you are patient, and take into account plunging student numbers (especially re.Indian students in Melbourne, and even further by mid year)), rental and property markets should cool?


Racism does exist in Australia. This week has seen tensions between Australia and India escalate, following yet another attack on an international student. Indian authorities have issued a travel warning about increased violence in Melbourne. The Australian Government is in damage control. While police investigations into the fatal attack of accounting graduate Nitin Garg in Melbourne and the discovery of the body of an unidentified Indian student in NSW are ongoing, the motives behind these attacks remain unclear. What is certain however is that there is growing disquiet about the way our international guests have been treated. Yet, our Deputy PM, and the acting Premier of Victoria have been quick to dismiss the possibility that racism may have been a factor in why these young people were targeted, attacked and killed.


Indian student visa applications fall by half. THE number of Indians applying for visas to study in Australia has plunged dramatically, heightening fears for the nation's $17 billion international education industry. The latest Immigration Department data, for the period from July to October 31, shows a 46 per cent drop in overseas student visa applications from India compared with the same period in 2008.


Especially in Melbourne, even more mid year and early 2011, which if there is anything positive to comeout of this, with lower migration, lower property prices?

Real estate industry has been spruiking sales/basing rising prices on increased population and migration.....

ABCDiamond

Not just from India, there has been an overall decline in the total number of student visa applications from all countries, ever since the Global Finance Crisis.

WillBlack

Pity some Indian students became crime victims, good they are applying in fewer numbers.

Far better would have been to have lowered immigration quotas.

ABCDiamond

The question is: why should they confirm that it is racist, when they don't know.

With an average of 2,628 assaults per 100,000 population (of all nationalities) in Melbourne there would have been 1,332 assaults against Indians purely by the law of averages, without any extra causes.
There were 1,447. Only slightly higher than average.
Exactly why is this racist ?

I agree that Melbourne is not a safe place going by those figures, but overly racist ?

Now let's see who says that Australia is not racist:

ABCDiamond

We need more cheaper houses outside the main cities to bring the median prices down.

Until that happens, and while everyone wants to live in the best locations possible, it stands to reason that the prices will be high.

Australia needs to follow other countries, and have more people living a bit further out from the Capital Cities, where it is cheaper.