Australians seeking out the US dream via Zillow with more than one million views a year
A new report from US property giant Zillow reveals that Australia’s property obsession extends all the way to the USA.
Zillow calculates more than one million Australians are looking at American real estate on Zillow annually.
Beverly Hills (above) is among the most searched cities, with Los Angeles the most searched region.
Eight of the top 10 most popular U.S. cities for Australian home searches are in the state of California.
Zillow noted the United States has its own housing affordability challenges, but at a much low median home price of around A$265,696 ($203,400USD)
"Home prices are on the rise in almost every major metro area, and in many markets, buyers are facing stiff competition and bidding wars," the Zillow report advised.
California’s economy is about twice the size of Australia’s, so buying a home in a hot California market can come with a significant price tag.
The median price point for Australian home searches on Zillow is A$704,070 AUD ($539,000USD) with the chances of finding a home within that price range in desirable California cities ranked as slim, especially since, according to Zillow’s data, Australians are primarily interested in standalone U.S. homes.
Up-and-coming metros like Las Vegas, Seattle and Portland, Oregon are gaining attention from Australians. In the Las Vegas metro, the median home costs A$309,320 ($236,800 USD) and is expected to rise another 5.8 per cent in value over the next year.
The Los Angeles metro has a median home price of A$804,389 ($615,800 USD) and is expected to gain just 1.1 per cent in value next year.
There are currently almost 100,000 Australians living the U.S., according to The U.S. Census Bureau. The 2016 Australian Census saw net overseas migration (NOM) departures reach 312,200 people from 31 December 2015 - 31 December 2016, an increase of 3.7 per cent year-on-year.
Launched in 2006 and headquartered in Seattle, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow Group with shares trading on the NASDAQ.
Shares of Zillow Group are currently trading at around US$44. The market cap is US$5.47 billion.
Caledonia Investments, the Australian investment firm run by Will Vicars owns around 22% in US online real estate market leader. Will Vicars was instrumental in James Packer's original $300 million investment in the US stock in 2013, with the equity now held by his sister, Gretel Packer.