An article in the Sunday Telegraph argues that skilled immigrants from Britain, India and China are forcing up Australian house prices "to some of the highest levels in the world when compared with average incomes". During 2009, 115,000 permanent skilled visas were issued, compared to 40,000 ten years ago. In that time, median house prices rose from $156,000 to $420,000.
The article argues that, because these people are paid above average wages, they are happy to pay above average prices for houses. The argument is that a relatively small number of highly paid buyers can have a disproportionate effect on house prices.
"Experts say property price inflation is driven not by what the average buyer can afford to pay, but by the highest bidder. You need only two highly paid buyers at an auction to take the price of a property well above what any other party could afford to pay."
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