Understand the impact of the high Australian dollar: Tips for expat Australian property buyers

Rich Harvey of Sydney buyers' agency, propertybuyer says the high dollar can have a “very dampening effect” on the willingness of Australian expats to buy property.

In the past, Harvey’s firm had relied on expats for 20-30% of its business. David Morrell of Morrell and Koren emphasises the impact that a swing of, say, 10% in the value of the Australian dollar against other currencies can have on the value of a $5 million to $8 million house. And Morrell too has experienced a cut in demand in 2012 among expat buyers because of the high dollar.

However, Morrell and several other property specialists stress that many expats are motivated to buy property in Australia for reasons that are not influenced by the state of the dollar. Morrell says expats usually make a decision to buy in Australia when their children are reaching secondary-school age. “They normally come back for the schools.”

Ross Savas, a director of Kay & Burton Real Estate in Melbourne, says “it doesn’t matter where the dollar is” if expats have to come home to educate their children or have been made redundant as countless employers cut costs.

“Don’t worry about the dollar,” adds Savas, who specialises in properties costing $3 million-plus. “If you are coming home, you are coming home. And you will need somewhere to live.

“Expats are the most expensive employees,” says Savas. “And they are the first to go when companies scale back their overheads.”