paulry

True, but a savvy buyer can get more for their money over there. And with more room for investment growth too. It doesn't solve Commonwealth's aim of owning his home in Sydney though

BadgeIsBack

Once a year or so I look at property in the London borough I grew up in. 350GBP buys you a 2 bed semi, or rather terraced house- possibly interwar. Not a smudge of gentrification or character in sight. Still, it is a nice borough.

(It's interesting that once you factor in even a few desirable factors the price starts going up in '50's..so by the time you are looking at any character, or detached, or more than 3 bedrooms you are well in to the 500's!)

paulry

I agree. Just checked the area that my house is in and it looks like the value of houses in my street have gone up by around UKP30k in the two and a half years since we left. Could even add another 10k or more extra to ours compliments of our insurance and the last tenant - who set the kitchen ablaze.

IvanM

That is not SE Asia.

isgraham

Well I've not been looking in that price bracket but I know that since moving back I've moved from my 2 bed maisonet in finchley to a 4 bed house in Kingston upon Thames for money that would only buy me a 2 bed unit in a decent area of Sydney a similar commute from my office and with low fixed mortgage my repayments are only 15% of my salary. And I now have to get up and go kayaking on the Thames. Shame about the weather though.

BadgeIsBack

When I was growing up Kingston was a bit iffy - a much poorer brother to say Richmond or Twickenham, and a bit later on, Teddington (Teddington nor Twickenham didn't have a purpose-built shopping centre as such but it really blossomed in the late 90s with some desirable housing). Since the late 90s Kingston seems to have had a bit of a revival - I don't think the housing stock is as good as in the London Borough of Richmond, save for Kingston Hill. To me, London is all relative - so Kingston is one of those great places to live in London, streets ahead of say anything around Merton, or New Malden etc.

sammax

Other than the "is it or isn't it dead money" question, the only thing I wouldn't like about renting is that the landlord can decide to sell at any time. I've seen this happen to a couple of my friends, just when they have settled in and felt at home. I would just hate the uncertainty.

commonwealth

thats the thing. it's hard to find places to rent. since i arrived here i've never changed address!

Almo

Could you buy something a bit further out, get more space, rent that out and rent yourself where you want to live? Friends of ours own a couple of places in the outer suburbs of Melbourne but rent in Port Melbourne. Seems to work well for them although they've owned the places for a while.

RedDragon2008

You dont get it so dont worry

Beoz

Envy .... hmmm ... I'm not an envious type. I actively promote and praise those who have made themselves successful and it's the reason why I have a great dislike of those who leach off the taxpayer.

You were so nice there for a while. I'm glad I exposed you for the leach you are.

Beoz

Isn't this because you have a far greater earning potential in London compared to what you could earn in Oz? As for me it's the other way round right now.

I just compared my old street in London SW4, 2 bed terraces £500,000 approx and my current street in Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, 2 bed terraces £800,000 approx. Sure on current FX rates its a bit more expensive in Sydney but my salary ratio is 2.3, far different to the current 1.45 FX rate so for me, and possibly many others, it kind of cancels itself out to about parity or there abouts.

paulry

It looks like your circumstances make you well-suited to buying your own home. People who are likely to move ( downsizing, upsizing, relocating, etc) shouldn't buy because the slim pickings from any short to medium term increases in value are wiped out and more by the eye-watering costs associated with selling and re-buying.

commonwealth

i've been living (renting) in same address in the past 4 years . . . . the landlord loves me i got a rent increase only once! but have to move out as the landlord wants to sell sometime this year.

Margaret3

Yes, its made me feel better, but the thought of moving every 1 to 2 years can be quite costly financially and emotionally.