Australian Migration Visa Lawyers - About Australia

About Australia Housing

Renting
Experience has shown that it's much wiser to rent in your selected area for several months before "taking the investment plunge". By living in the area you really gain the opportunity to assess all the practicalities: proximity to shopping, schools and medical facilities; traffic patterns; assess the area to your expectations; market trends and values; planned development etc. It's important to get a "feel" for the area and be happy to settle there. It also avoids the pitfall of impulse buying.

Owners advertise houses and flats for rent in newspapers and at real estate offices. The staff members of real estate offices will assist you find, inspect and decide on a suitable house or a flat to rent. You may need to supply some paper work before you can rent a property.

You will be required to pay rent in advance. The first payment will include a bond that is refundable at the end of the rental. A lease is an agreement to rent housing. It is a legal contract. If you have, doubts or concerns about a lease seek legal advice before signing the contract.

As a tenant, you have rights and obligations. You can get more information on rights and obligations that apply in each state or territory from the government website in the applicable state.

The Rent Australia Website also has more advice specific to each state:

MEDIUM WEEKLY RENTS FOR AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL CITIES (2009 - March Qtr):

City	Houses	Units
Sydney	$450	$410
Melbourne	$350	$320
Brisbane	$360	$340
Adelaide	$300	$250
Perth	$370	$350
Hobart	$300	$240
Darwin	$500	$400
Canberra	$410	$400

Source: http://www.homepriceguide.com.au/

Buying
Buying a home is usually considered to be the biggest single investment and great care needs to be taken - even more so by a migrant.

The basic rules of buying property in Australia are:

Do your research as carefully as possible, and
Position, Position, Position! It's better to buy the worst house in the best area than the best house in the worst area.

There is a wide range of housing available, especially in some of Australia's larger cities and their suburbs.

A trend in all the main cities is to live as close to the centre as possible. This is a result of increasing traffic conditions and the time taken to commute. Inner city suburbs are being revitalised and renovations abound.

City apartments are also in big demand, however many families choose to live in suburbs within 10 – 20km to the city.

AVG HOUSE AND UNIT PRICES FOR AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL CITIES (for last 12 months to June 2009)

City	Houses		Units
SYDNEY	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	$762,500	$950,000	$515,000	$485,000
BRISBANE	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	$645,000	$430,000	$435,000	$367,000
MELBOURNE	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	$357,500	$724,000	$370,500	$407,000
PERTH	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	$715,000	$410,000	SNR	$330,000
HOBART	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	$470,000	$410,000	$470,000	$265,000
ADELAIDE	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	$438,250	$435,000	$342,500	$290,000
DARWIN	Inner Region	Outer Region	Inner Region	Outer Region
	SNR	$445,000	$458,950	$366,000

Source: http://www.domain.com.au/public/apm/suburbprofile/default.aspx?mode=research

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