Latest NewsMigrants, Expats Priced out of Property MarketSunday, 23 October 2016

Migrants and returning Aussie expats say the unchecked rise in real estate prices over the past decade is a major barrier blocking their entry to the local housing market.

And the trend - exacerbated by the rising Australian dollar - may force skilled migrants to think twice before moving Down Under, an analyst said.

Housing affordability worsens....

One former expat, Daniel returned to Sydney from a five-year stint in London. Now he and his wife don't intend to go anywhere near the Australian property market despite having saved more than $200,000 for a deposit on a home.

The price of property (and living) is more expensive here than most places we have travelled, he said, declining to give his full name.

Median home prices in capital cities have increased almost continually since at least 1986, jumping 28.1 per cent from 2003-04 to the June quarter 2009 alone, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows. Those prices offer no signs of abating with the latest figures from Residex showing a national increase of 1.7 per cent last month alone.

Spiralling home prices are spurred in part by a shortage of available stock and a vastly growing population in most capital cities.

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