Wednesday, August 25, 2010
UK first-time-buyers flock to Australia (in their dreams)
UK first-time-buyers flock to Australia
One in four UK first-time-buyers are considering buying property overseas and 70 per cent have abandoned plans to buy UK property due to high prices. Australia topped the list of most popular destinations for first-time-buyers, data from Moneycorp’s third biennial report has shown. Some 86 per cent of buyers expected to get more for their money overseas, according to Moneycorp. Moneycorp said with a strong currency and prosperous economy, alongside good value for money, Australia proves to be the best investment opportunity for first-time buyers.
Posted by jack c @ 03:28 PM (3506 views)
27 thoughts on “UK first-time-buyers flock to Australia (in their dreams)”
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mark says:
interesting OZland is making it easy if you want to emigrate..
uncle tom says:
Ermm..
..anyone looked at Australian house prices recently?
..helped by generous tax breaks for BTLers, they have the mother of all property bubbles right now..
d'oh says:
Right…so an overvalued currency and the highest wage to house price multiples in the world in conjunciton with a one trick pony economy reliant on Asia not having any wobbles makes Australia “the best investment opportunity.”
You couldn’t make this stuff up!
mark says:
hey i wouldnt call it a 1 trick pony they have “neighbours” and “home and away” lol
sibley's love child says:
What could possibly go wrong?
I hear the Bulgarian and Spanish property markets are a hot prospect at the moment.
mark says:
lol lol
and british property is at the top of every investors list
jack c says:
@uncle tom – I have a good friend in Brisbane who tells me residential property prices have risen dramatically in recent years and the bubble over there looks bigger to me than it is here in the UK. If they cant suck in FTB’s on the domestic market maybe they can fool them into parting with their cash down-under !
Beavis says:
Bit if a long commute to work everyday – were do they get this rubosh from.
righttoleech says:
flocking there are they? small flocks of the brain dead no doubt.
d'oh says:
I currently live north of Brisbane. Median house price here is about 9 times the average household income. Interest rates here are generally higher than the UK. The real estate market is very slow. A lot of properties have been on for the 12 months we have been living here. Interestingly, the local full colour glossy property ramping rag has had a few editorials softening up the sellers – pointing out that it doesn’t matter how much you paid for the property, but how much a buyer in willing to pay. The houses that have been shifting have been those priced 10% to 15% below the “average.” Seen some big drops in top end properties. Some of the smaller EAs have shut up shop, and of late there have been a few large development acreages coming onto the market – suspect those in the know are trying to offload to greater fools.
It has been a good 3 years since the days of sell your 2 up 2 down in the UK and buy a McMansion in Oz, plus have cash left over for the boat and 4wd.
drewster says:
@sibley’s,
Nooo, you’ve missed your chance. The time to buy Spain and Bulgaria was 2-3 years ago. Now’s definitely the best time to buy in the UK though!
mander says:
So basicly there is a shortage of houses in Australia to justify high house prices? Not enough land to build on or something…
Anyway 70 per cent of FTB have abandoned plans to buy UK property due to high prices and I think almost half of the remaining 30% do not have the right deposits anyway which makes it to 85 % of potential FTBs being put off by high house prices. Only FTBs can turn the property market arround and we have their attitude described above.
inbreda says:
but if house prices are too high for FTBs what can we do? Perhaps we could offer them tax breaks to buy? or perhaps threaten them with guns? There must be something we can do besides have realistic prices, surely?
drewster says:
@mander,
“Only FTBs can turn the property market arround…”
I disagree. It seems entirely possible that BTL landlords could continue to fill the void for the next decade. Interest rates at 0%, a compliant population with no choice but to rent, repossessions low…. so what’s preventing that scenario? Private home ownership is a relatively modern phenonemon. Maybe it was also a short-lived one, and we’re heading swiftly back to the feudal system.
nomad says:
“Australia proves to be the best investment opportunity for first-time buyers.”
So FTBs looking not for a home but for an investment opportunity. Brainwashed or stupid?
jack c says:
@nomad – Brainwashed or stupid?- probably both
sureseam says:
drewster @ 14
It is fascinating that you use the argument of reversion towards a long term mean for home ownership whilst disregarding it for interest rates which are at the lowest for hundreds of years.
Central bank interest rates (e.g. the MLR from the BoE) are, in reality, a reflection of the bond markets rather than political whim. The last week has seen Ireland downgraded AGAIN despite credible austerity measures from the government there. How long before it happens here (despite our own currency) ?
Some BTLs will survive and many won’t; especially those who got in late with high LTVs and low rental yields who regarded capital appreciation as a certainty. For what it is worth; I expect a few Housing Associations to keel over too.
drewster says:
@sureseam,
Don’t get me wrong, I’m in the same boat as most on here. Sometimes it does feel like we’re slipping back to the middle-ages though.
Yoss says:
Oz houses are the biggest by Avg square footage..So if there jobs there it would make sense.
greenshootsandleaves says:
Since every potential buyer who reads this article and is persuaded to move to Australia will make it less of a struggle for those left in the UK to get on the property ladder (supply and demand and all that), perhaps we should all tell them to “Flock Off!”.
I still can’t believe this sort of drivel found its way into the FT.
sureseam says:
drewster @ 18
You are right about the middle-ages. Just now I sense a slow motion train-wreck in the financial markets – roll on Christmas.
mander says:
drewster @14
Well put, banks creating money or even eventualy using FTBs savings and lend it to BTL to buy already built homes and after rent back to FTBs is feudalism not capitalism.
Lild says:
Look on wikipedia at the great australian housing boom of 1893. Brought the country to its knees. When will people and governments ever learn???
Buyaus says:
yes buy property in Australia, we have the most expensive properties in the world according to The Economist magazine and many other observers. It went up by 20 percent last year and should continue these 20 percent increases for infinity and beyond. Also a very wise investment for UK residents exchanging their weak Stirling for our very strong over valued dollar. You are getting very sound advice over there. But remember get in quick before its too late and our bubble bursts.
a saver says:
With GBP having tanked against the Aussie as well as higher interest rates and a worse housing bubble over there – that is presently bursting – the timing could not be much worse for transferring a large sum of dosh/buying a house.
paul says:
It is this sort of article, based on questionable statistics and even more questionable reasoning that should be the focus of scrutiny by the FSA and such.
If a columnist is committing such an egregious lie to print, they obviously have an interest in seeing that lie become truth.
Bubblegirl says:
All one need do is google “Australia Housing Bubble” and the Brits would keep away in droves. There is much talk of the market taking a fall here in Australia, it is just a matter of when. Australia thinks they have dodged the bullet and media and property spruikers would have us all believe that house prices will all go up for ever and ever but the truth is first time buyer lending here has dropped off significantly in the past six months. Overall it is cheaper (and safer!) to rent! Unemplyoment, they say is at an all time low but that figure does not include people who are struggling to continue in paid employment. Australia has quite a casualised work force and there are people out there surviving but only just on those kinds of wages. Unemployed? No…but having to get buy on less hours of work for money is a reality. If some of these factors and the other points made in previous posts don’t imply BUBBLE…what does?