Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Stop Immigration - I want to buy a house!

Hey, You, in the "northern island" :)

I am sure you must be aboriginals.
Because everybody whose not aboriginals are immigrants... I am sorry, but my state was founded more than 1000 years ago...and yours?

So, if your grand-grandparents could go to Australia (I am sure you know the British joke about the prisonerers and You...), why do want to stop immigration? I think only aboriginals have the right (should have been).

Your parents allowed immigration for thousands of hungarian in '56, so, we are grateful...and the poles also...and you dont like asian food?

Have you seen the movie "Freedom and love". I think not, the topic is the hungarian waterpolo team's match against the russians in the olimpics of Melbourne. You know, a lot of player stayed in Australia. And others also...from the end of the 19th century more than 50000 hungarian could start a new life in your home.

I am sorry, my English is not correct...
 
I lived in Sydney for 2 years working on a 457 visa and was thus a tax payer in Australia....it is illegal for a 457 visa holder to buy a house in Australia. I own a house in London and would have happily sold it and bought somewhere in Sydney but I was not allowed too.

Instead I had to join the scrum for a rental unit. After living in a hotel for 4 weeks I finally found a place by bidding above the asked rent. I couldn't believe it about 30 people turned up to see the place and the agent then started an auction outside to see who would pay the highest weekly rent.

For those of you who think that immigrants should not be allowed to buy a property what should they do...rent??? Rent what?? Where the work is in the inner cities there are no houses or units to rent at a sensible price.

I have since moved back to Europe and now live in Frankfurt. I rent a 140 sq.mtr appartment overlooking the river in the centre of town about 15 minutes walk from my office. This is shared with one other person and the monthly rent including telephone heating water electricty and gas in Euro 450 per month (about AU$700) per month each.

In Sydney I was paying about Au$ 2,200 per month and had a one hour train journey to work.

Don't blame the foreigners who are working in Australia and living in their own houses.

Perhaps something is broken in the system when a country the size of a huge continent and only 20mn inhabitants runs out of land???

Having said that I do plan to return to Australia but not the East Coast...somewhere between Fremantle and Perth would suit.

EB
 
Something broken in the system?

Comparing western Europe with Australia - only 4 cities are larger than Sydney and Melbourne, and these belong to countries with more than 45M ppl:

Paris 9.8M over 2720 sq km
London 8.5M over 1620 sq km
Madrid 5.6M over 1700 sq km
Barcelona 4.8M over 3240 sq km

Sydney 4.3M over 12140 sq km
Melbourne 3.6M over 7690 sq km

The population/area ratio kinda says something about cities predominantly formed before the advent of the motor car.

Was it Whitlam that made an initiative to position major govt departments in regional centres in an effort to decentralise the Aus population?
 
All this stuff about whingers "pi##'s" me off the fact as I see it is there is a huge problem for first home owners and its just going to get worse and nothin is being done about it .People whoe reccommend "grin and bear it" arrgggh!!
In my mind this could create such a diversion in wealth and a disenfranchising of youth it can only be bad for Australia as a whole
Oh yeah Exberliner good luck finding somewhere between Perth and Fremantle the rental market here is very tight!:2twocents
 
kgee....thats the reason I am in Europe...wages are much higher here in Euros and british pounds. I am working as a stockbroker in Frankfurt and together with my trading in small cap miners I am trying to put a pile of cash together for my return to Australia.

One thing I learned during my 2 years in Sydney... Australia is not a nice place unless you have lots of money.

Europe is different you can live here quite comfortably with a low income and little or no savings. In Australia that is impossible.

Anyway it's always good to have a plan.

EB
 
Redcliffe is not close to the city. It's a good 30-35k's from town following the road and 25ks at best LOS. That's a good hours drive to and from work if the traffic is good. Until the state govt gets to it and extends the train line into Redcliffe city theres no easy, cheap and fast option to get to the CBD from there during peak hour.

I guess if you're strictly looking at house prices Redcliffe might be called affordable but I wouldnt really call it a saving in the big scheme of things if your repayment savings are then eaten away by higher transport costs.
 
Redcliffe is not close to the city. It's a good 30-35k's from town following the road and 25ks at best LOS. That's a good hours drive to and from work if the traffic is good. Until the state govt gets to it and extends the train line into Redcliffe city theres no easy, cheap and fast option to get to the CBD from there during peak hour.

I guess if you're strictly looking at house prices Redcliffe might be called affordable but I wouldnt really call it a saving in the big scheme of things if your repayment savings are then eaten away by higher transport costs.

lol Brisbane trains are a Joke. worse than melb and Sydney
 
Redcliffe is not close to the city. It's a good 30-35k's from town following the road and 25ks at best LOS. That's a good hours drive to and from work if the traffic is good. Until the state govt gets to it and extends the train line into Redcliffe city theres no easy, cheap and fast option to get to the CBD from there during peak hour.

I guess if you're strictly looking at house prices Redcliffe might be called affordable but I wouldnt really call it a saving in the big scheme of things if your repayment savings are then eaten away by higher transport costs.

In my links to affordable PERTH rental property, I used Redcliffe as an example.

It is close to the CBD

From Google maps (Perth train station to Redcliffe)

Drive: 11.4 km – about 18 mins

1. Head east on Wellington St toward Barrack St 0.2 km
2. Turn left at Barrack St 47 m
3. Continue on Beaufort St 0.5 km
2 mins
4. Turn left at Newcastle St 0.3 km
1 min
5. Turn left at William St 47 m
6. Turn left at Graham Farmer Fwy 4.3 km
4 mins
7. Take the exit toward Great Eastern Hwy 0.4 km
8. Turn left at Great Eastern Hwy 3.7 km
5 mins
9. Turn right at Epsom Ave 0.7 km
2 mins
10. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Stanton Rd 0.8 km
2 mins
11. Continue on Second St 0.4 km

To: Redcliffe WA




Sounds close to me, and houses under $300/pw

Dave
 
lol Brisbane trains are a Joke. worse than melb and Sydney

I was more comparing train and car times here then Brisbane trains vs other cities. :) If you saw the traffic here during peak hour, trust me, the trains are fast. :)

Having not ridden on public transport down south recently, my southern aquaintances tell me our transport is cheap. A return ticket can be used all day, unlimited times and can be used on train, buses and ferries.

Our central station could be closer to the mall though.

To: Redcliffe WA

Sounds close to me, and houses under $300/pw

Dave

ok. gotcha now. That is cheap. It wouldnt make a bad IP. :)
 
Something broken in the system?

Comparing western Europe with Australia - only 4 cities are larger than Sydney and Melbourne, and these belong to countries with more than 45M ppl:

Paris 9.8M over 2720 sq km
London 8.5M over 1620 sq km
Madrid 5.6M over 1700 sq km
Barcelona 4.8M over 3240 sq km

Sydney 4.3M over 12140 sq km
Melbourne 3.6M over 7690 sq km

The population/area ratio kinda says something about cities predominantly formed before the advent of the motor car.

Was it Whitlam that made an initiative to position major govt departments in regional centres in an effort to decentralise the Aus population?

good point algis.....then with all that space why can normal people not afford a house on a normal Australian salary?

There seems to be pleny of room to put the houses in the Australian cities.

EB
 
good point algis.....then with all that space why can normal people not afford a house on a normal Australian salary?

There seems to be pleny of room to put the houses in the Australian cities.

EB

EB...where did you get those stats from?

I'm always interested in sizes/popoulations of cities, but can never find any reliable data.

FWIW...I don't believe Sydney is 8x the area size of London
 
Can you believe it? There are only 55 more sleeps until Christmas!

Okay, now that the friendly Santa reminder is behind us, I'm touching base with you today to have a quick chat about interest rates. There's quite a lot happening on world financial markets that savvy property investors need to know about.

In a nutshell, events are conspiring that cause me to be absolutely convinced...

...that interest rates are on target to crash through 10%,
thereby triggering a massive credit squeeze!

No, this is not alarmist nonsense. Give me a few minutes of your time and I'll explain why 10%+ interest rates are as good as certain.

It's not all bad news though. The pending economic correction will create a buyer's market for property, the likes of which we haven't seen for over 16 years.

***NOTE: If you happen to be short on time and are skimming
through this, don't miss the special offer at the bottom of this email
or else visit http://www.propertyinvesting.com/go/215!***

With this in mind, be sure to read on as I've given you three critical points that I recommend you immediately implement to ensure you're not wiped out, but rather well positioned to profit in the months ahead. Let's get started.



WARNING: US Recession On the Cards!


Don't believe the spin. Things are far from rosy for the US economy. In fact, many well credentialed independent economic observers are predicting a substantial recession. And I'm here to tell you that if the US economy gets the sniffles, then world financial markets will catch a nasty cold.

Think about this. The US Congressional Budget Office currently estimates their YEARLY spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts totals $132,000,000,000 (that's 132 billion dollars). Surely that's an amount that would make even Bill Gates blush!

Where's all this money coming from? The answer is debt, debt and more debt!

In fact, the US government is so desperate for money
that they're borrowing from China, Russia... even Mexico.

Of course, countries aren't charities and they don't lend interest-free, and given the increasing debt burden and massive budget deficits, currency experts are now starting to question the true worth of the once all mighty US dollar, especially as the domestic US economy suffers reflux as it chews through their sub-prime housing problems.

The response from the US Fed is to keep dropping their cash lending rate in the hope that lower interest rates entice consumers to borrow more, and then use that money to keep spending so that their economy grows rather than stalls.


Rates Set To Rocket Up!

Hopefully you're still with me, as I'm about to tie it all together and explain how a higher Aussie dollar will naturally and surely cause our home loan interest rates to keep rising.

Consider this. You're an investor with the following two investment options:

A. You can buy US government bonds and get 4.75% return. Remember that the greenback is presently weighed down with massive debt and is looking pretty ordinary by even the most optimistic observers.

OR

B. You can buy Aussie bonds and receive a 6.75% return. Remember, the Aussie economy is backed by a resources boom and forward orders for metals and resources which we simply can't meet due to antiquated infrastructure.

Unless you've got rocks in your head, you'd buy Aussie bonds because the return is higher and the underlying investment more reliable. And that's exactly what foreign investors are doing. For instance, a current popular FX trade that high rollers are using is to borrow money in Asia at low interest rates (say 1%) and convert that borrowed money into Aussie dollars to buy Aussie bonds paying 6.75% interest, thereby making (hopefully) enough of a margin to bank a nice profit.

Clearly, this is a strategy that only professionals should try since there's
more risk in what I've described above than driving down a major freeway at top speed with your eyes shut.

The essential message is this - the more the US dollar drops, the better the Aussie currency looks, both in terms of return and reliability. And as investors convert their foreign pounds, pence and pesos to buy Aussie dollars, buyer demand will keep putting upwards pressure on the value of our currency.

On the plus side, a trip to Disneyland hasn't been as financially attractive on the currency exchange since the mid 1980's. On the downside, as our dollar heads into territory not seen in two generations, we're more likely to buy cheap imports and blow out our own trading account as exports become more expensive and less competitive on world markets. That is, our spending on purchases will go up, but our income from export sales down.

It's a little cruel that the US is trying to stimulate their economy at the exact same moment the RBA is trying to cool ours. But cool it they must if they want to keep inflation in check.

Conservative channels like the ANZ Bank have published the following glib forecast:

"It now looks as though the Reserve Bank has considerably more work to do in order to dampen medium-term inflationary pressures. We now expect three more 25bp rate hikes in the current tightening cycle - once in November and two more in the first half of 2008."

If this happens then home loan interest rates are at 9% before the end of March next year.

Except for pork barrelling, there may be a glimmer of hope that the RBA could steer us into safe fiscal territory. Sadly though, it seems that dumb and dumber is the name of the election game since each party seems hell bent on trying to out do each other in the amount of money they're promising to put in the hands of consumers to spend.

Here's the newsflash... tax cuts win elections, but our country desperately needs money spent on infrastructure, not iPods!

Sadly, no one seems to be listening, so what the tax man giveth in the way of tax cuts, the RBA will surely taketh away through higher interest rates.


We're Trapped In a Gloom Cycle!


I'm sorry to have to tell you that we're trapped in the beginnings of a gloom cycle. Last year I was almost laughed out of town when I predicted interest rates would be a percent higher within 12 months. Sadly, I've been proven right.

Now, I'm updating my forecast to conclude that - unless there is a substantial shift in economic policy and a marked move towards good governance - Aussie interest rates will be at, or slightly above, 10% on or before the 30th June 2009. And this is regardless of who wins the election.

Pushing political spin to one side, the truth is we're heavily in debt (just like the US), but it's businesses and consumers (rather than the government) who are to blame. Home prices are, frankly, at ridiculous levels. The 1 in 100 year drought is pushing up the price of food, oil prices have never been higher, and both sides of government are handing out billion dollar election promises like candy.

It's all spend, spend, spend... and this will only result in inflation. In response, the RBA has no option but to keep bumping up interest rates in the hope that, sooner or later, people put away their credit cards.

Your Homework - Here's What To Do...
It seems we're now at the dusk of the easy money phase, so I suggest you ready the heavily sails in preparation for choppier financial seas.

Specifically, here are three absolutely essential things that I've recommended my closest family and friends do as soon as possible:

1. Exit Marginal Property Deals While You Can

Honestly, a property deal that's floundering in the current climate is going to be a bigger dud as interest rates rise and the real estate values soften. I'm telling friends and family to bite the bullet - sell while you can and live to fight another day.

2. It's Time To Get Educated

The next market correction will trigger the biggest redistribution of wealth in two decades.

As interest rates continue to climb, we will enter a true buyer's market where those who know what, where, when and how to buy will make more money in five years than others will in several lifetimes.

Of course, just like the good times don't last forever, neither do the bad times either. For instance, when the currency correction happened in Asia in the early 1990's, people who snagged good quality property for cents in the dollar came out the other side with literally millons of dollars in easy equity. On the other hand, people forced to sell will lose a lifetime of wealth in seconds.

The writing is on the economic wall. If you don't know how to read it then get educated fast.

3. Prepare And Be Patient

I'm no Chicken Little. I'm simply letting you know what I'm doing.

At the moment I'm sitting on a pile of cash and waiting patiently for the financial sun to set. In the meantime I'm cherry-picking great property deals as I see them, but I'm not risking the bank on a speculative project that will flop when money dries up and banks stop lending as freely.

Already I notice that many financiers have tightened their lending policy on building projects - down to 65% LVRs. This is the first of many similar moves.

Recieved this email from Steve McKnight's site.Sorry its such a wall of text
 
EB...where did you get those stats from?

I'm always interested in sizes/popoulations of cities, but can never find any reliable data.

FWIW...I don't believe Sydney is 8x the area size of London


Wikipedia - world's largets cities - compiled from UN World Urbanization Prospects report.

No details provided on how they defined the extent of the city form which you can determine the area, but take a look at the following google maps at the same scale:

Sydney

London

In the end, London is a far more compact city, meaning that if you live anywhere in London, you are not too far from things. That doesn't necessarily apply to Sydney or Australia's other capital cities - urban sprawl since the advent of the car is what caused this. Take a look at all those terraces made pre-1900 - compact use of space meant medium density living. Medium density living no doubt has its problems, but it means efficient use of space and energy required to get around.
 
Wikipedia - world's largets cities - compiled from UN World Urbanization Prospects report.

No details provided on how they defined the extent of the city form which you can determine the area, but take a look at the following google maps at the same scale:

Sydney

London

In the end, London is a far more compact city, meaning that if you live anywhere in London, you are not too far from things. That doesn't necessarily apply to Sydney or Australia's other capital cities - urban sprawl since the advent of the car is what caused this. Take a look at all those terraces made pre-1900 - compact use of space meant medium density living. Medium density living no doubt has its problems, but it means efficient use of space and energy required to get around.

See thats where that stats are messed up. I lived in London for most of my life, much of it in that 'compact use of space', and agree with the sq km stats for London.

However, for Sydney, 12,140 sq kms is just plain ridiculous. That would mean if Sydney's land area was squared shaped, it would measure 110ks by 110ks:eek:

Now, I know that Sydney from the city to western fringe is 60kms, and reckon from the far north to lets say Cronulla is around the same that would give 3600 sq kms. I'm not even taking into account all off the vast national parks that are no doubt included in the UN study.

Anyways...that was off topic...so back to banning us immgrants:sleeping:
 
I suggest if you want a house then buy a house. In the outer suburbs of Sydney you can buy a house from $270.000 in the Blacktown area, $250.000 in the Ambervale/Camden area. If you don't buy the immigrates will they recognise any opportunity to improve their life, they did after the second world war bought anything they could afford in the outer areas and now they are some of the most wealthy people in the community.

No use sitting around there are opportunities in every suburb.
 
I suggest if you want a house then buy a house. In the outer suburbs of Sydney you can buy a house from $270.000 in the Blacktown area

mate, Blacktown can be affordable, but it's not the safest suburb nor cleanest there is.

Buying in the outer suburbs is OK, but you take into consideration the petrol consumption + travel time + toll, what do you end up with at the end of the day?
 
Buying in the outer suburbs is OK, but you take into consideration the petrol consumption + travel time + toll, what do you end up with at the end of the day?

I can think of few worse versions of hell than to be trapped in the depths of suburbia with 1hr+ of stop-start commute to and from work every day.

I suspect that upward-social-mobility is the only answer for many who desire something better than this.
 
Recieved this email from Steve McKnight's site.Sorry its such a wall of text

I love it when people who made money during one phase of a cycle become experts at predicting the end of said cycle. He's not an economist, he's an accountant who read a book or two and was inspired and became a property investor. He has as much of a clue as the rest of us and access to about the same information.

DYOT (do your own thinking).
 
mate, Blacktown can be affordable, but it's not the safest suburb nor cleanest there is.

Buying in the outer suburbs is OK, but you take into consideration the petrol consumption + travel time + toll, what do you end up with at the end of the day?

Cant have everything for $270k

What do you end up with??? a foot in the door.

Ever heard of gentrification?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification

Just need some FHB's to decide that affordability isnt the issue, their aspirations are.

Dave
 
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