Rising cost of property in Adelaide

[Guest jlr248]

Like many others on this site, after waiting, watching and hoping for the last 2 years, we have finally got our visa and are now trying to sell our house in UK in order to move out and start living the dream. Over the last 2 years we have sat helplessly watching as house prices and rentals costs seemed to increase in Adelaide almost as quickly as they slumped in UK. Not to mention the record drop in exchange rates too. Two years ago we thought we might actually be able to live mortgage free in Oz but now it looks as if we will need the biggest mortgage of our lives, quite a scary prospect.

My question is this...Is it still financially feezible to live the dream? When we finally sell our house and after all the costs of actually getting to Australia, we hope to have around £170 K (plenty or so I thought). Obviously we hope to get work ASAP and we do have friends to stay with very short term but we will need to sort out a 6 month rental while we find our feet so this money may well decrease.

Will it be posible to afford to buy a decent family home (we are looking everywhere from Hallett Cove to Port Noralunga inland and coastal) . My husband is a plumber and I am a Teaching Assistant and in the Uk we would not dream of having a £150 K mortgage, but due to rising house prices and poor exchange rate it would appear that this would be the reality of living in Adelaide now. To all those who have recently and not so recently moved over there, can it be done? Are jobs plentiful and well paid enough to fund such huge mortgages? Yet again on this long journey I am losing sleep and would love to hear from anyone doing it.

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Alot depends on what sort of lifestyle you want to lead when you get over here....

 

We have a mortgage never had one in the UK never owned our own house in the UK, its been our dream to own somewhere and we ended up buidling our own place...were in Aldinga Beach....

 

when the bills come in we have to tighten the purse strings a little but we are no means skint...although i have just lost my job so things might get a bit harem scarem....

 

HG

[Guest BurgessFamily]

House prices have just begun falling and, bar government intervention, will continue to slide for the foreseeable future. Hold off for a while, giving the downturn time to take hold, and you may find you can be mortgage free when you decide to buy.

[Guest Perth Pom]

Hi jlr248

 

I hope your UK house sale flies through for you without any hiccups.

 

Just one thing to bear in mind. Your husband will not be able to start work as a plumber immediately. It is pretty disgusting that TRA or whatever they are now called do not actually inform people that your husbands City & Guilds are not recognised in OZ. They are only good enough to get you into the country.

 

He will have to re-train to Aussie standards. It's pretty straightforward to get a 'tradesmans" license, which will allow him to work for a "Licensed" plumber. If he wants to work for himself, it can take years of study. I am a plumber, but luckily for us, we lived in NZ for a nuber of years before we came to OZ and my Kiwi qual's were recognised and I got my "licensed" status.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but as they say forewarned is fore armed.

 

I can't comment on the work situation in Adelaide, as we are over in WA. As a wages plumber in Perth, you would earn anywhere between $25- $32 per hour. I'm sure SA would be similar. But do be prepared for a good few weeks without work until he can be re-trained.

 

Good Luck

[Guest Perth Pom]

Just seen that Rob and Mel covered this topic in much greater detail.

 

Can I delete this post mods??

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Just seen that Rob and Mel covered this topic in much greater detail.

 

Can I delete this post mods??

 

 

What the whole thing?

 

HG

[TheHarrisonFamily]

Hi jlr248

We are in exactly the same position as you. We moved to Adelaide Jan 2011. As you say we have seen the changes in prices in last 2 years, both here and UK and the drop in exchange rates.

In the end we have rented out our UK house. With the poor exchange rate it wasnt worth bringing over the money even if we could sell it. It wasnt worth putting in a UK bank account, so we decided to keep it in bricks and mortar and try to ride out the recession.

We are renting in Oz. if we were to buy here, we would need a much bigger mortgage than we had in the UK to match the standard of home we had there. Not forgetting the interest rates are higher here, so that adds to the cost of any mortgage.

We hope prices will drop here....but havent seen much evidence of it yet.

Not sure if weve done the right things...just letting you know what our take has been on it.

 

Donna

[trevorpayne]

I think you have to bear in mind that most houses in Australia are 3-4 bed detached with kitchen, lounge and good sized gardens. Add the fact that you can live by the coast with beautiful beaches and commute to the city.

I personally don't think the prices are that bad. I agree the exchange rate is really poor but given time I would imagine this would correct itself.

[Guest SA Great]

Personally I would keep my money in the Uk as said above and just rent over here. I think house prices will drop AND the exchange for you guys is crap at the moment. SA tends to be a bit behind the UK but once house prices drop and the exchange rate becomes more realistic (2 dollars = 1 pound!) then it could be a good time to buy. Just my opinion.

[jim and adel]

I think you have to bear in mind that most houses in Australia are 3-4 bed detached with kitchen, lounge and good sized gardens. Add the fact that you can live by the coast with beautiful beaches and commute to the city.

I personally don't think the prices are that bad. I agree the exchange rate is really poor but given time I would imagine this would correct itself.

 

There are some very nice houses here and if you're not too fussy about the suburb and are willing to live somewhere that doesn't carry a premium then prices are still okay (imho) but not the mega-cheap option they were a few years ago.

 

Just to give a different opinion on your first couple of points, though: while there are plenty of 3/4 bed detached as you say, the vast majority are timber/steel framed with a brick veneer and a cheap build cost (that's not to say they're cheap for the owner who's building, only for the builder!) There's probably more weight and substance to a house half the size in the UK to what you typically get here. The two rentals we stayed in when we first arrived (built by different builders on different new estates ) I would kindest describe as 'flimsy'. As for good sized gardens, Adelaide has the smallest new build blocks in the country (and getting smaller). According to The Australian, the current median here is 375sqm, down from over 600sqm in the nineties.

 

Jim

[Guest SA Great]

As for good sized gardens, Adelaide has the smallest new build blocks in the country (and getting smaller). According to The Australian, the current median here is 375sqm, down from over 600sqm in the nineties.

 

Jim

 

WOW I didnt know that Jim!! Personally I think we are fed a lot of propoganda about how good we have got it in SA. We recently went to Sydney and restaurant prices in Darling Harbour were about the same as Adelaide!!!! Dont get me wrong, I love Adelaide but its definitely not as good as it used to be

[minty]

Two points -

 

£175k, is this enough. Is this a serious question ?

 

Houses expensive. Not if you live in the south of the Uk. Compared to here Adelaide is quite cheap for the size of house you get.

[Guest Cara&Gav]

Hi,

 

I agree with Selina that it all depends on area. House prices vary vastly from area to area in the UK and I'm sure it is the same in Adelaide. We have a 2 bed flat right near the sea on the South coast of England, very large I must say and its worth around 160k. Now most of that is mortgage and we're not selling but we still try to compare like for like. If we were to convert that to dollars and buy somewhere in Port Noarlunga near the sea we should be able to get a smallish 3 bed bungalow with a garden which would definitely be a step up for us and we get the better way of life.

 

We haven't been to Oz so its just based on research and how we see things but just thought I'd throw in our opinion. We aren't moving to Oz to be 'better off' we just want a more relaxed, more outdoors way of life and hope that we end up with a slightly nicer property out of it but are still willing to work hard to get it. My dream is to have a swimming pool so might have to live slightly out form the coast but we'll weight it up when we get there.

 

Cara x

[Guest BurgessFamily]

The general point here about living in SA is the cost of living is a little bit better than living in the South of England, and the wages are a little bit better than living in the North of England.

 

Most new houses here are 3/4 bed flimsy bungalows that are reasonably sized inside but have very little space outside. Sizes are getting smaller with each new batch of designs they bring out, and the block smaller too. 600sqm is getting very rare as builders are eager to subdivide and offer two 300sqm blocks.

 

We are currently staying in a new house, built by a leading developer here. The quality makes me laugh. There is a real lack of quality to the finish and it has put me off buying new. If I was gonna build new, I'd probably look at something like... http://www.classicqueenslanders.com.au/.

[sueoc]

There are some very nice houses here and if you're not too fussy about the suburb and are willing to live somewhere that doesn't carry a premium then prices are still okay (imho) but not the mega-cheap option they were a few years ago.

 

Just to give a different opinion on your first couple of points, though: while there are plenty of 3/4 bed detached as you say, the vast majority are timber/steel framed with a brick veneer and a cheap build cost (that's not to say they're cheap for the owner who's building, only for the builder!) There's probably more weight and substance to a house half the size in the UK to what you typically get here. The two rentals we stayed in when we first arrived (built by different builders on different new estates ) I would kindest describe as 'flimsy'. As for good sized gardens, Adelaide has the smallest new build blocks in the country (and getting smaller). According to The Australian, the current median here is 375sqm, down from over 600sqm in the nineties.

 

Jim

I say!How very true my friend.Our last new build rental was on a 300sqm block and the poor quality cheapness of it left us amazed.Good job the Big Bad Wolf wasnt around.Dont worry though ,at least the rental payments were at a premium(of course.)

[Guest BurgessFamily]

The good news is that vacancy rates are on the increase (http://www.sqmresearch.com.au/graphs/graph_vacancy.php?region=sa%3A%3AAdelaide&type=c&t=1), and as long as the current trend continues, it can only put downward pressure on rents.

[Guest Perth Pom]

What the whole thing?

 

HG

 

Hi HG

 

Sorry if there was any confusion, I just meant that the subject of all the grief that plumbers go through had been covered in great detail by Rob in the "jobs" section. I only noticed it after I had posted my advice to plumbers. So if you see fit, please delete my earlier post.

 

Hope that makes sense!!

[Guest BurgessFamily]

interesting stats on RPDATA, Adelaide property prices have shifted from 0% to -2.1% (-2.3% seasonally adjusted) in a month.