Australians attracted to American real estate bargains

As the property market across America continues to recover from the recession, there have been an unprecedented number of Australian buyers entering the US market.

Speaking about the US property market recently, Warren Buffet said: “If I had a way of buying a couple of hundred thousand single family homes and had a way of managing them … I would load up on them.”

Phil Gerathy, an Australian real estate expert focusing on the American market, said: “Our Australian investors have still been buying at prices close to the bottom of the market despite Michigan’s economic recovery outpacing the rest of the US. Foreclosure rates were so high that inventory was flooding the market. Now investors have started to move in, including Australians.”

Record low mortgage rates combined with low house prices was highlighted recently by the Detroit Free Press as one of the reasons why developers are starting to build more houses once again. Demand is underpinned and, with a drop in the unemployment rate in the area from 14.2% to 8.5%, the economic index in Michigan is starting to soar.

Mr Gerathy highlights that this opportunity to invest is not a window that will remain open indefinitely, and while many are avoiding purchasing properties the fundamentals of economics is indicating that people should be trying to buy instead.

Mortgage rates remain at around 3.6% for a 30% loan and experts believe that the wise will invest now rather than leaving it until 2013.