A Look at Buying Property in Australia

If you are planning on moving overseas to Australia to live and want to purchase property you may need to get approval depending upon your resident status. If you are just starting out your property search you can visit any bank, credit union or building society for a free booklet specifically for homebuyers. These booklets are published by the local property associations in the area and offer unbiased advice for the prospective property buyer in Australia. You can also check the Saturday edition of local newspapers as that is when the largest home advertisement section is published.

When you are looking at ads for property that is for sale remember that the price that is advertised may only be for the land and not the building. That means that the building adds on an additional cost to the advertised price. The sizes of homes listed in advertisements in Australia will be in squares where one square equals 100 square feet or 9.3 square meters.

When you find a home that you wish to buy you may need to get approval to buy it. If you are classified as a non resident of Australia then you will need to be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board before you are allowed to purchase the property that you are interested in buying.

If you are wondering what type of prices you can expect on homes in Australia you should know that like anywhere prices tend to fluctuate depending upon the size and location of the property. However, the average price for two to three bedroom ranch style homes in Australia is between $115,000 and $200,000. And if you are more interested in a two story home, the average price of a four bedroom two story home in Australia is between $150,000 and $400,000. The most expensive places to buy are in Sydney and Melbourne. A two bedroom apartment with a waterfront view in Sydney will cost you around a million dollars.

For a good idea of the cost of homes in Australia, specifically in Sydney, you can look at the Sydney Herald Home Price Guide. This guide actually lists all of the sales prices of homes sold both privately and by auction in the Sydney suburbs over the previous 12 months. You can buy a copy of this guide through the Australian Property Monitors for either $59.95 for a report by post code or for $99.95 for a three month online subscription by post code. A street report is also available for $99.95 if you are interested in a specific street.