As a Victorian who moved to Mandurah in 2000 and sold up last year to move to Hervey Bay I can tell you this:
1. Perth is a city lacking in culture that is as isolated from the Eastern States as it is from the present day. Big drinking mentality, lots of cowboys and bikies. Friends working on Barrow Island claim their publicly listed employer is currently being taken for a ride by an overpaid and underworked workforce. This can't last forever.
2. Every man and his dog over there thinks they will be millionaires in a couple of years based on buying any house they can. I know a 30 something couple now mortgaging everything to buy in Hillary's (as if that isn't already overvalued).
3. The coastal lifestyle in Perth is a myth. The Fremantle Doctor (aka the Roaring Forties) blows you off the beach most days and the water is freezing except for about 1 month of the year. 3 winters in a row we and our friends lost tiles off our roofs in storms.
If I was still in Perth now I'd be very grateful for the extra dough I'd get for my house, but I'd be getting out quick because the bigger the boom the bigger the bust. Victoria saw a 30% drop in '90/'91 and for five years property was the worst investment of all. Perth is about to experience the same.
