Economy in WA

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum. Myself and my family are 189 Visa holders, which we've held for 3 years. We're still living in Switzerland at the moment but plan to get "down under" before it expires after 5 years.

Having spent the past three years researching Australia, as well as making a reccie visit to Melbourne my wife and I have settled on Perth. It seems to tick all the boxes such as climate, cleanliness, beaches, property prices, proximity to Europe and Asia etc.

The only hesitation we have is the economic situation in WA. Are things as bad as some people describe? Is Perth a city in decline? Or is just picking itself up after the economic headwinds of recent years?

Do people feel confident in the future of Perth?

Once we arrive in the next couple of years, I plan to start up an IT Services company for local businesses. Is this a sector that's saturated, or do people feel that there's a demand for such services?

So many questions, so few answers (yet)

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to any feedback.

Kind Regards

James

Hi and welcome to the forum.

The economy in WA is still struggling. This is very different to the issues that Europe and others have faced. Australia didn't really go through that. WA has been badly affected by the downturn in commodity prices - mining / oil / gas.

While led of course there are IT companies in WA, it is a minor location. Most of the big companies in WA actually have their IT functions over east.

I am keeping a close eye on the business for sale marketplace. I see an "IT servicing" business quite regularly. Roughly 120k and 180k cashflow.

Hallo @spangley and welcome to the forum.

The economy here in WA is certainly in a downturn at the moment. This started with the gas and oil industry a few years back, and it is having a knockon effect right across the board now. Many people who were working FIFO in the gas and oil industry have lost their jobs, and consequently their large income, and are back in Perth either looking for work or working with much lower incomes. This of course means that disposable incomes are smaller and on the whole people are eating out less, buying less, just hanging onto their money "incase", and so all the businesses that catered to the very inflated economy that was, are cutting back on staff or going to the wall. Empty shops are becoming the norm in most shopping centres, and many cafes, coffee shops etc aren't as busy as they used to be. Also, because businesses could charge big prices, they did, and a lot of people started to shop more on the internet to get a bargain. Hence the demise of some businesses.

However all is not doom and gloom and life continues. It is just that the stupidly inflated prices of property, merchandise, clothing etc, has started to come down to a level that is realistic and sustainable. For a few years there, economics in WA really were quite ridiculous, and many businesses rode along on the coat-tails of this and did well for themselves, but are now finding it hard to be an economically viable business as there is much less money in the economy. Obviously that is a simplistic view and there are many other issues at work in the situation, but the bottom line is that the "bubble" had to burst as some point as it was way beyond sustainable.

Having said all that, there are jobs here if you are prepared to do anything. The big IT industry in Australia seems to be based in Melbourne or Sydney, but there are smaller companies here in WA that provide services for local government and companies, and there are IT positions advertised in these.

On the plus side, if you are considering buying a property, you would get more for your money now than you would a year ago, and there are some amazingly good deals in the shops for furniture and white goods.

We have lived here for 26 years and arrived during a similar economic downturn. Finding work was difficult to start with, but with a willingness to do anything to bring in the dollars until the right job turned up, we managed OK. We scored in house buying though.... so it was, and probably still is today, swings and roundabouts.