Recently I have been recommending buying property in NZ. You might wonder why not Australia given that these markets are pretty similar. My explanations are that:
1. In dollar value terms NZ offers better buying
2. In lifestyle terms, per dollar unit value, NZ offers better value
3. Australian city & coastal property prices have further to fall.
In both cases I am a believer that the only place to buy at the moment is in rural areas, and it only makes sense for a few people. Also there are greater charges on property transfer in Australia, so even if you were chasing yield, it makes more sense to do it in NZ than Australia. For these reasons I would direct you to my NZ blog, but I would suggest keeping an eye on this for updates.
Incidentally I would suggest that NZ offers better lifestyle advantages than Australia. The people are friendlier, good climate, attractive environment, low cost of living, less government regulation, etc. Aussies have become uptight, materialistic, egocentric (in a bad way), and I suspect the bad NZ'ers have left the country (for Australia and further abroad). On one factor I probably prefer Australia - better telecommunications. Though if you were going to be a purist, you might prefer to struggle with the Japanese language in Japan. Great country for all things technology-wise.
1. In dollar value terms NZ offers better buying
2. In lifestyle terms, per dollar unit value, NZ offers better value
3. Australian city & coastal property prices have further to fall.
In both cases I am a believer that the only place to buy at the moment is in rural areas, and it only makes sense for a few people. Also there are greater charges on property transfer in Australia, so even if you were chasing yield, it makes more sense to do it in NZ than Australia. For these reasons I would direct you to my NZ blog, but I would suggest keeping an eye on this for updates.
Incidentally I would suggest that NZ offers better lifestyle advantages than Australia. The people are friendlier, good climate, attractive environment, low cost of living, less government regulation, etc. Aussies have become uptight, materialistic, egocentric (in a bad way), and I suspect the bad NZ'ers have left the country (for Australia and further abroad). On one factor I probably prefer Australia - better telecommunications. Though if you were going to be a purist, you might prefer to struggle with the Japanese language in Japan. Great country for all things technology-wise.
