Over the last few days the weather in Perth has been lovely. It's been hovering between 30 and 33 degrees every day. In Calgary, that would feel really hot but here it's very pleasant. I don't think it's because we've gotten used to the weather but rather that the air just feels different. Winter here may be colder than we expect as we've read in several places that the homes aren't built for cold but they really should be. I think we'll manage.
With the cooler weather we are able to spend more time in our yard doing stuff like destroying Keva in a friendly game of badminton.
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A couple of weeks ago we all went to an outdoor theatre to watch a movie. On Valentines Day, Nadia and I went to a different theatre on the University of Western Australia campus, near the CBD. I haven't seen very many University campuses in my time but of those I have seen this one is certainly the most picturesque. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable about the kids possibly going to University here.
Unlike the previous outdoor theatre this one came complete with seats. The surroundings and atmosphere were brilliant. We ended up watching a french movie called "Romantics Anonymous". It was a fun and funny movie and despite the french subtitles it was enjoyable. We're sophisticated and wordly and stuff.
Before the movie we set up our blanket, ordered a pizza made on-site and had a couple of beers. We are becoming fast fans of picnicing.
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We are probably going to be buying a home when our lease agreement expires. To prepare we've been paying attention to neighbourhoods, costs and real estate in general. What we've concluded is that Perth has a strange property market. Our current neighbourhood has a median home price of $1.2 million AUS. We are about 15 km away from the CBD. The closer you get to the CBD and river the more expensive it is. The most expensive neighbourhood has a median home price of $8 million. We are in about the 20th most expensive neighbourhood in Perth out of approximately 200. We are not going to be able to afford to buy a home where we are now. The area we like quite a bit has a median home price of $770k, which is closer to our price range. It's about a 5 minute drive to the ocean but it has a very nice atmosphere and lots of parks.
This is an example of our neighbourhood and many neighbourhoods around Perth. On the left is a fairly large, new home with a stone fence, palm trees and a pool. This home is probably worth about $2 million. In the middle is a vacant lot. In most of the older neighbourhoods you'll see some older, run-down homes and quite a few vacant lots. I'm not sure why there are so many vacant lots, particularly near the beach. It may be a recent demolition. It may be that someone bought the land and can't quite afford to build on it yet. Or it may be that trying to get a contractor in Perth is like trying to carve a stone with a plastic knife: you can do it but be prepared for it to take a while. In the newer neighbourhoods all of the homes are about at the same level. In the medium-aged neighbourhoods, like ours, you see stuff like the picture above quite a bit. The other thing you see is exemplified by the home on the right. It was likely built in the 60's and was used as a beach hut vacation retreat for someone living in, what's now considered, the inner city. Despite the land itself being worth almost a million dollars, you see these sorts of old, original, run-down homes quite a bit. They are either owned by pensioners that can't maitain the upkeep or they are owned by a group of a dozen 20-something surf bums that use it to sleep, party, recover, rinse and repeat.
The other strange thing about this and some of the medium aged neighbourhoods, especially the ones near the beach, is that they are situated on big lots and as a result, they may have 1 or 2 homes on the lot. In the picture above, you can see the white home on the right has a home with the green roof behind it. 80% of our neighbourhood is like that.
On the whole it makes for an odd neighbourhood atmosphere. In the same neighbourhood you have the rich WASPs, the retired seniors living on a pension, families and surf bums. It doesn't look like an affluent neighbourhood, it doesn't look like a poor neighbourhood and it doesn't look like a middle-class neighbourhood. It's all sort of jumbled together.
This home is directly across the street from the other 3 shown above. It is bigger than it looks in the picture and likely worth somewhere around $2.5 million.
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Speaking of neighbourhoods, there are 3 inner city neighbourhoods in Perth that may be of interest to those living in Calgary:
1) Victoria Park- an older, established neighbourhood with a lot of more recent in-fills. It is currently undergoing quite a bit of genetrification.
2) Kensington- a trendy, hip place to shop, walk around and enjoy a latte.
3) Inglewood- formely a bit of a rough neighbourhood, it has gone through a significant transformation and is now considered one of the cool places to hang out and get a bite to eat.
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