king kong

I would beg to differ on what you have said there ,with the average house in perth approaching 500000 dollars you can find plenty of places in the uk where you can get a house for 200000 pounds and more than likely you will be earning more money than you would here .
Sure they may have to drop their sites a bit and live in a semi or even a terrace as opposed to the mcmansion ,but it is also waht you have around you infrastructure wise and bearing in mind also interest rates are lower in the uk so in effect you will be paying back less for the money you borrow .

Grayling

But that is a relatively recent development.

'Traditionally' many Brits have funded their migration on the back of UK house profits....often being in a position to buy outright in Australia.

That is no longer the case but it will take quite a while for that message to register.

Many are now finding that their 'UK earned' equity does not go as far....this will eventually lead to a reduction in migration to Australia from the UK and may account for the number of people who now admit that they are struggling.

G

Tableland

If it does reduce the number of Brits it won't be by a large margin. When asked why they want to emigrate, most Brits talk about weather and options for their kids and maybe British politics before they mention buying a massive house. Also, it's all relative: British property prices are going up at the same rate as Australian ones, so their equity gain is relatively high in the Australian market.

king kong

Property in any australian city that has the infrastructure that any british town/city offers is more expensive than the uk especially perth .
Sure when analyzing from the other side of the world and looking at what you can get for 500000 around perth or elsewhere for that fact ,people often get a shock when they reliase how far they are from everything and coming here for the weather soon takes a back seat when they find out they are in the back of beyond .
Inner city property prices in australia have by my experienced accelerated fer quicker price wise than just about any town in the uk [except london ],there are many especially in WA now finding themselves in the enviable position of being able to move back to the uk easily due to the massive resources boom in china .

king kong

I think your right brits will always come to australia and give it a go and good on them for it but the options of a better life especially materially are getting narrower and narrower ,after all we live in a far closer global economy these days than say 40 years ago .
It is for this reason also a fair few aussies are leaving these shores in search of good times and often better pay in places like london because Australia cannot give them what they need ie a house etc .
Australia has joined the ranks of britain ,ireland where home ownership is beyond the reach of most under thirty .

Exile

In the case of movign to Australia, weather and better options for the kids is how we justified to ourselves the move, when what we really wanted was a big house with a swimming pool. Self-deception is a powerful thing.

somme

Thats not true, some of us out here enjoy hearing both sides to any discussion.

How else can you make an informed opinion.

Tableland

The wage/house price ratio i nthe UK is about 6 on average, and in Australia the same. In Canada it's more like 2 or 3. 3 is considered "affordable" by the way, so you can see why Brits and Aussies are getting worked up about house prices. The discerpancy is because North America has more liberal development and planning legislation, so yes it's government's fault.

king kong

The government thing could be a debatable point as here in the west there a quiet a few houses on the market and they arnt selling as quickly as they were .
It has slowed because of expectation of a stamp duty slash on property ,which will be good for a month or two untill the prices are adjusted by the owners or speculators .
A big issue here is the banks will lend upto six times income ,this is only fueling the cycle of debt .If banks didint lend anymore than 3 times annual income it would slow up the prices far quicker .So cutting the greedy pockets of owners and speculators and saving young couples from a debt they may never pay off .
Im afraid i blame the banks .

Tableland

The banks aren't helping, but they're only cashing in on incompetent government policy. If banks release less money, it will reduce the supply of cash into the property market, but it won't build any more houses. The result will be lots of houses that won't get sold, and very happy landlords who can crank up the price of renting.

Houses that won't sell are because they are priced out of everyone's reach. Land releases in WA are done by central government, so the process is slow and incompetent. The same thing in the UK. The answer is to ease planning laws and allow local councils to release land to developers. This will bring the price down as the supply will meet the demand at a lower price.

king kong

I guess there is no easy answer and we all can come up with our theories on economics .
In regards to releasing more land ,im all for it but i have a feeeling it would only fuel more building thus more work ,and so it goes on with more people wanting to move here and so the cycle continues untill the whole lot over heats and then they put the brakes on via interest rates .
How we got on to housing i dont really know but i can understand why aussies are going over seas and enjoying life ,unfortunately some of them are extremly capable people who may never come back .
My children are thinking the same thing with an aussie passport in one hand and a brit one in the other and property prices generally lower on continental europe than either britain or australia ,i cant blame them for maybe departing these shores .

Nomore

I'd love to pay 500,000 for a McMansion, but thats just the problem, we are paying that much and more for a shack

Tableland

They should go overseas anyway regardless of house prices. Travel is far and away the best educator in the world. Australians can gain a lot by working in Europe, but many retire back in Aus because Europe is changing in a radical way in terms of its demographics and the weather in northern Europe is awful. Lucky are those with a passport in each hand, especially an Aussie one!

Also, I add in edit, Canada and the US have much cheaper housing, but this cheap housing is not available across the board. You'll need 300,000 Canadian dollars minimum to get a decent place in BC for example. So it's a Western thing all round. How it ends - who knows?

Grayling

I know several Australians who are settled in the UK with no intention of leaving.

These are mainly academics and Medics and other professionals.

As J and R said earlier...it tends to be the higher earners and those looking for challenges and careers regardless of other factors who move to the UK from Australia on a permanent basis whereas it is more likely to be tradesmen who move in the other direction.

G

Mercedes

The majority of them could do a house swap, save loads in moving costs and then when they get fed up, they just move back again to their own houses.....