Australian Dollar 2017

{Note - thread continued from here: Australian Dollar 2016}

 

lol.....I don't live in the USA and have mortgages in $A to pay
love it to stay around the 0.70 mark for as long as possible thanks......

 

Hi MTR
I know you are in a very different market and Atlanta has a way still to get back to pre 08 levels but just some 'on the ground feedback' property here in Brooklyn Heights NY has stopped since Nov 8 like a glacier cold snap hit it.

Basically nothing is going up.....worse than that....nothing seems to be selling at all and "on market times" are increasing week by week. There are about 10-20 properties in the $1-3m mark in our area that not a single one has sold with on market dates of 120-180 days.

I'm not sure if its the election result or the associated increase in mortgage rates (30 year fixed went from 3.5% to 4.25% in weeks).....and YMMV in Atlanta, and would be interested in your feedback if you've been to the USA in the last few weeks but just thought I'd give you a heads up.

 

Thanks.

Different price point

Though I have heard plenty of other States at higher levels are booming.

going in Feb 2017

Also business partner been over 3 times this year and US partner full time property investor in Atlanta, owns 140 homes. We just had a couple of properties bank valued and all well above purchase price

Interest rates rising, but economy on the move. If we see infrastructure spending, more jobs I think the good times should roll on

MTR

 

No real way to know until Jan 20........will be interesting to see how congress falls into line (or doesn't) I've noticed some rumblings that make me think may not be smooth as projected......however I think politicians being piggies they are....will just hold out for sweeteners and Trump being nonchalant about the deficit wont be looking out for our interests.

Its always interesting how Republican Hawks only care about balancing the books while in opposition

 

looking forward to see what happens

plenty on threads on Trump on PC...lol

 

I think you're wrong.

 

Nope, I'm right. It's only the people who have a bulk of their income derived in the US or get paid in USD who want the AUD lower.

 

So not everyone then?

 

Haha I guess not 100% but maybe 98.7% if you assume most people on this board are paid in Australian dollars

 

Yes bring back parity, good for those in reverse living overseas with USD on Australian income. Trump should help out in that respect, but maybe not so much for those living on Euros... hmmm. Guess Trump wont make much difference to EURAUD even if he wrecks the USD.

 

No... I'm in Australia but a low AUD means more people will travel to Australia (eventually) from all countries. Which means my Airbnb's will have more guests coming in from overseas. Which means more demand. I get quite a lot of Chinese guests, so it would be great if Australia stays affordable for Chinese people. But honestly, my guests come from everywhere. Recently there was a guest from the Philippines and soon there will be a guest checking in from Malaysia (staying 11 nights).

Of course, I also have income that doesn't rely on foreign money too. But the Airbnbing is a solid chunk of income.

 

Just like Liberals

 

I don't think you can extrapolate and say your 2 units on Airbnb will get higher occupancy just because the AUD falls. Does your spreadsheet show overseas guests make up more than 20% of your total stays income?

But let's say you're correct and you're happy because the AUD has fallen to 58 cents and you're making an extra $10k per annum on Airbnb. But at the same time a 58 cents AUD means petrol is now $2.30 a litre, economy flight to Europe is $3,800, new iPhone is $1,700, new TV is $2,800 and your 2 Airbnb units which are worth $1,000,000 have just been reduced in value by 22% on the world stage and now worth $780,000. Still happy? Be careful what you wish for.

 

I wonder if Trump, with all his protectionist rhetoric will clamp down on foreign ownership of US property.

 

Short term; what I see is what I see. We had the Australian Dollar at $1.10 not long ago, I don't need to buy too much stuff from overseas.
My fuel costs aren't excessive because I don't drive that much, I only drive regularly to my airbnb propert/ies and volleyball.

Sure I take buses and flights but their fuel costs are hedged. (I'd actually say though, competition has kept the price of airfares down to very reasonable levels recently.)

And it's probably not a bad thing if my home is $770k and not $1mill on the world stage because where I am, there are lots of Chinese buyers.

The dollar goes up and down. Right now it's not excessively high or low. There isn't a real need for us to get back to the $1.10 level.

 

Doubt it, foreigners bring money into the country has been good for US. Helped create more jobs for US

There will always be other structures/ways if that means investing with US citizens that would be another option, syndicates etc

 

That was not the norm, went this high due to mining boom.

Historically USD$ around 70 mark, went as low as around 50 but that was some time ago now

 

Your volleyball and cleaning stuff, bed linen, towels etc for Airbnb most likely comes from overseas? No need to go $1.10 but parity would be nice.. even 80-90 cents would be good.

 

Volleyball doesn't need much gear. I might just buy a new pair of kneepads this year. The biggest costs are insurance and comp/playing fees (biggest cost of which is venue hire).

Cleaning stuff - Comes from Australia and overseas. But not expensive.

Linen etc. $6 towels from Target don't break the bank. A year or two ago they used to be $10 each. And even though I bought them for $6 each they are still surprisingly, good towels. Their standard range has also come down in price from $12 each to $10. Also their pillows that used to be $15 each are now $10. Somehow these prices have dropped over the last 2 years. Also the cushions... they went down in price too, from something like $25 for 2 to $20.
I'll add, Big W also has a nice premium bed sheet set too. About $60 a set but they are nice sheets. No linen costs for me to stress about.
I think sheets, towels, pillows, cushions etc might have become cheaper due to volume and buying power of these department chains stores? Currency doesnt hurt either. Just like Ikea dropping prices on basic items. Even when the AUD was at $1.10 I think linen wasn't cheaper at that point in time.

Ps. I worked out I spend maybe $400 on fuel for the car every year (driving roughly 5000km per year, 1 tank generally does between 1000km to 1200km, tank costs $80 to fill). Our car is a 2006 Diesel Citroen C4 and we just went past 111,111km on the odometer about a week ago. We only fill it about once every 5 weeks. I share this car with my partner so about half of the driving is mine.