Look up Perth Bus Train timetable on Google Transit

Perth will be the first city in Australia to be mapped out by a website called Google Transit which overlays Google Maps with the public transport system in Perth. Effectively, you will be able to look up your location and your destination and Google transit will tell you which buses and trains you can catch to get there. For example, look up Fremantle to Subiaco and it will show you the route, the times of each bus arriving at your bus stop and the connecting train to get there (if necessary). This website will be available within weeks according to the news article here.

Keep an eye out at http://www.google.com/transit and wait for PERTH to appear on the list.

Taken from www.lifehacker.com.au this is what it will look like.

House market downturn spreads - news.com.au

"The central bank today said the housing market has softened, with the top end as well as the lower end of the market now being hurt by higher interest rates after strong growth in prices in 2007."

More from this article here

Perth prices only went up 1.1% during 2007. There are also predictions that as soon as the US economic woes spread to Australia in terms of job losses, housing prices will fall. An expert last night on Lateline on ABC said that the reason house prices have not dropped are because this generation of Australians (thats us, naughty, cocky Generation Y) have never seen a proper recession and never seen house prices drop. Gearing themselves up for a home loan which requires 40% of their income to service does not phase us.. and that is the problem.

As soon as reality hits, prices will probably plummet.

For the time being its good to sit tight, avoid the share market, invest in a bankwest Telenet saver account (and get the $40 cashback ) and earn a guaranteed 7.75% interest until house prices drop.

22 Perth suburbs $1m average price for home

PERTH is fast becoming the million-dollar city, with 22 suburbs reaching a median house price of $1 million or more, according to Landgate.

Most of the million-dollar suburbs are by the river or ocean and in the western suburbs. Jones Ballard Property Group director Shaun Yeo said lifestyle continued to drive the upper end of the Perth housing market.

"The growing demand for riverside suburbs by property buyers is underlined by the fact that the latest figures from Landgate for the past calendar year show the median house price in South Perth surged by just over 25 per cent,'' he said.

"This is during a period when the overall median Perth house price rose by 15 per cent.''
Agents say rising interest rates are having little impact on prices in riverside suburbs.

"Generally, the property buyers in these suburbs are in very well-paid employment or own businesses,'' Mr Yeo said.

Real Estate Institute of WA president Rob Druitt said he was not surprised by the high number of suburbs with a median of $1 million, considering Perth's growth in capital value in recent years.

"Perth is maturing and the economy is strong,'' he said. ``The top end of the market is strong and I expect that to continue.''

Brendon Ptolomey, Perth director of valuation firm Herron Todd White, said buyers continued to show preference for coastal locations such as Cottesloe, South Fremantle, Trigg, Sorrento and Hillarys.

The above article comes from http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23302781-2761,00.html

Often when you look at the pictures of some houses selling for $1m or more, you start to wonder what happened to Perth. And there is REIWA ramping up the housing boom as always... thanks REIWA, I'll remember you when I am living in a box under the Narrows Bridge.

The problem with the boom is that if you are not riding it, you are going to get drowned by it. As existing Gen X and Gen Y homebuyers in Perth struggle to put the money together, the increased interest in Perth overseas and over east is making the prospect of finding a house harder. Maybe I should just focus on growing what little I have for now and leave hunting for later..

Perth suburbs $1m average price for home

PERTH is fast becoming the million-dollar city, with 22 suburbs reaching a median house price of $1 million or more, according to Landgate.

 

Most of the million-dollar suburbs are by the river or ocean and in the western suburbs.
Jones Ballard Property Group director Shaun Yeo said lifestyle continued to drive the upper end of the Perth housing market.

"The growing demand for riverside suburbs by property buyers is underlined by the fact that the latest figures from Landgate for the past calendar year show the median house price in South Perth surged by just over 25 per cent,'' he said.

"This is during a period when the overall median Perth house price rose by 15 per cent.''
Agents say rising interest rates are having little impact on prices in riverside suburbs.

"Generally, the property buyers in these suburbs are in very well-paid employment or own businesses,'' Mr Yeo said.

Real Estate Institute of WA president Rob Druitt said he was not surprised by the high number of suburbs with a median of $1 million, considering Perth's growth in capital value in recent years.

"Perth is maturing and the economy is strong,'' he said. ``The top end of the market is strong and I expect that to continue.''

Brendon Ptolomey, Perth director of valuation firm Herron Todd White, said buyers continued to show preference for coastal locations such as Cottesloe, South Fremantle, Trigg, Sorrento and Hillarys.

 

The above article comes from http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23302781-2761,00.html

 

Often when you look at the pictures of some houses selling for $1m or more, you start to wonder what happened to Perth. The problem with the boom is that if you are not riding it, you are going to get drowned by it. As existing Gen X and Gen Y homebuyers in Perth struggle to put the money together, the increased interest in Perth overseas and over east is making the prospect of finding a house harder. Maybe I should just focus on growing what little I have for now and leave hunting for later..

Perth top destination for Interstaters

A new poll has revealed one in five Sydney residents is considering moving to another city, with Western Australia one of the most popular destinations.

The latest AC Nielsen poll found 21 per cent of people surveyed in Sydney are thinking of moving to another city.

The poll conducted in February cited interstate job opportunities as the main motivation.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data for 2007 showed 500 people move to WA from interstate every day.

The Chief Economist at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, John Nicolau, says the resources boom means WA needs more workers.

"When we look at our labour needs over the next 10 years we estimate we will need another 400,000 people in this state," he said.

ABS data also found young people were attracted by the mining industry in Western Australia, which has grown by 75 percent in the last ten years.

This article was taken from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/03/2178306.htm

What is scary is that every day, 500 people are moving to WA from interstate! Where are they looking for a house? Where are they staying? If you just do a www.blogsearch.google.com on PERTH for the last week, you can get an insight from some of the people that have just landed in paradise. Perth is growing but the housing situation still stands as a problem that doesn't seem to be improving.