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Ofcourse it depends. That is why I used the words "in my opinion" in my post.
Now, if you moved to Australia 15 years ago , and currently own a PPOR (personal place of residence) which was bought for $250k and is now worth $1.5mn, and 10 investment properties, you will love Australia. But if you have just moved here and are trying to get into the real estate market, it will simply suck.
As for cities, USA gives you the option of living in medium sized cities that have affordable RE prices and well paying jobs. If you still want to live on the West coast on 100k salary, that is a lifestyle choice.
Australia does not give you any such options. Want to make good money? Gotta get into Sydney/ Melbourne.
PS.: You might find it hard to believe, but not everyone wants to live in Sydney/ NY city/ LA/ London/ Paris.
Depends on industry of course, but I can tell you in Financial Services Syd/Mel are not significantly different to Brisbane. But the real estate prices sure are.
Depends on industry of course, but I can tell you in Financial Services Syd/Mel are not significantly different to Brisbane. But the real estate prices sure are.
Brisbane is very cheap considering wages etc. I guess it doesn't have the same draw as Sydney and Melbourne. Canberra is also good value, you get the amenity of a big city and but without the hassle of a big city. You can live like a king and be a 20 minute drive into the city on basically acreage and have change from $1m. (and you can still park in the city).
Not really sure Castle Hill is the best example of why Sydney is expensive, tbh. It's a relatively wealthy area. It's got more in common with the upper-north shore than it does with Parramatta.
Depends on industry of course, but I can tell you in Financial Services Syd/Mel are not significantly different to Brisbane. But the real estate prices sure are.
I have a friend in Brisbane who was working as a contractor with an insurance company as a BA.
His contract expired in May last year, and was not renewed. He looked for jobs, but all jobs in the market were for citizens (he has a PR).
He finally found a job in October.
During the same timeframe, there were lots of job openings in Sydney for BAs, for both PR holders and citizens.
I have a friend in Brisbane who was working as a contractor with an insurance company as a BA.
His contract expired in May last year, and was not renewed. He looked for jobs, but all jobs in the market were for citizens (he has a PR).
He finally found a job in October.
During the same timeframe, there were lots of job openings in Sydney for BAs, for both PR holders and citizens.
Well sure, there are of course more jobs in Sydney...it's twice the size.
My point is that the marginal wage differential does not go anywhere near covering the housing cost differential. The claim was that if you want to make good money you need to be in Syd or Melb. Perhaps that is true in some industries, but it is certainly not universal.
In many industries, if you want good disposable income after housing costs, the last place you want to be is Syd or Melb if looking purely at financial metrics.
Well sure, there are of course more jobs in Sydney...it's twice the size.
My point is that the marginal wage differential does not go anywhere near covering the housing cost differential. The claim was that if you want to make good money you need to be in Syd or Melb. Perhaps that is true in some industries, but it is certainly not universal.
In many industries, if you want good disposable income after housing costs, the last place you want to be is Syd or Melb if looking purely at financial metrics.
Well yes, if the industry that you work in has plenty of job opportunities in Brisbane, then Brisbane is a lot better option than Sydney/ Melbourne.
Even if you take. 20% pay cut compared to Syd/ Mel, the house prices more than make up for it.
The house prices here are ridiculous, no two ways about it. It's a simple fact. However, most aspects of life here are good. High salaries can be found in all major cities and even large regional cities here.
You are going to get so many different answers and perspectives - it really depends on that person's previous US experiences, life circumstances, expectations, etc. We lived in SE suburbs of Melbourne for two years before returning to the US. We had lived in rural NJ and rural WA in USA, so the suburbs of Melbourne were a little bit too much for my husband. Financially we were OK, a little bit less savings than we had in US, but we did not own a property and could never own one due to the ridiculous prices. This is true for the real estate market here in US now, so that was not the main problem.
What he hated: traffic, poor infrastructure, over-regulation of trades with tons of certificates for every little job he had to do (he refused to chase that tail), ever-changing weather of Melbourne, he didn't like the mountains there, no time for fun because of the wasted time sitting in traffic to come home after an 8 hour shift.
What me and the kids loved: easy access to ethnic foods, the markets, the diversity of people, walking barefoot all year long, the beaches, the social life, everblooming and green nature (this was Melbourne), overall laid back attitude of people.
We have PRs but unfortunately he couldn't see himself happy there and he refused to 'waste' another 3 years of his life, so we can apply for citizenship and we came back. I really wanted the citizenship for my kids who would've been able to go to college there without getting into debt for life, but it is what it is. Moving on.
I have a friend in Brisbane who was working as a contractor with an insurance company as a BA.
His contract expired in May last year, and was not renewed. He looked for jobs, but all jobs in the market were for citizens (he has a PR).
He finally found a job in October.
During the same timeframe, there were lots of job openings in Sydney for BAs, for both PR holders and citizens.
Having PR, should make you eligible for just about every occupation available in Australia. It's mostly government/security type type jobs you need citizenship for. There would be possibly several hundred thousand people working in Brisbane on PR visas without citizenship. My wife is one of them.
Mind Brisbane is not cheap either, we have been looking to upgrade recently, its about 1 million dollars plus for a 4 bedroom stand alone property within our existing school district. (Which is one of the cities better ones).
Last edited by danielsa1775; 03-26-2021 at 10:10 PM..
This. While in India, I was making enough money in Indian rupees to have an upper middle lifestyle in India.
Here in Sydney, my salary affords me a middle class lifestyle at the most. And it will degrade to lower middle lifestyle once I have taken a 800k mortgage.
I am curious, what is it here in Australia that makes it worthwhile for you to see your relative standard of living drop so much?
I am curious, what is it here in Australia that makes it worthwhile for you to see your relative standard of living drop so much?
Sold a dream no doubt. With the time and energy and money spent it is not easy to return just like that. Many do though. I've crossed paths with a few from The Sub Continent over the years that have returned. No different from elsewhere. My Italian server tonight from a restaurant we dine in regularly told me she and her husband are returning after eight years to Italy. Here too expensive. Too far from family. Too costly child care. Plus miss the Italian ambiance even under these difficult situations. They return early May.
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