However one chooses to look at the current financial situation, there are winners and losers. The current losers, to our minds, are developers with excess stock to move in a slow market. The winners are well-funded buyers in a good bargaining position. Prices are being reduced on property around the world, and any developer worth his salt knows that it is far better to take a drop in price and move the stock rather than sit on it until the market picks up.
More on Buyers in stronger position to bargain over property prices
The rental crises has reached new lows in Sydney with 30-40 applicants turning up for open house inspections, causing traffic congestion and even “rental rage”.
With rental rates of 1-2% for the last few years are set to get worse rather than better in the short-term. REI president Steve Martin is quoted as saying:
Just released, Mercer’s 2008 Cost of Living Survey makes some interesting reading for those considering a move downunder, that is to Australia or New Zealand.
The Mercer’s survey looks at comparative costs for an expatriate moving to each of 150 world cities. The 2008 survey confirmed Moscow as the world’s most expensive city, the “winner” for three years in a row. Tokyo and London were second and third most expensive respectively The survey is still dominated by Asian and European cities in the top 10 spots but the Australia and Pacific region has been catching up – based, at least in part, on the weakening of the US dollar against most other major currencies.
