Living in Australia is going cheaper: cost of living drops in Australian cities

Australian cities have fallen in the rank of cost of living as it was revealed in the 2014 Mercer Cost of Living Survey. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra are the cities showing a drop in the list.

The survey shows how Sydney has dropped 17 positions, from a ranking of 9 in 2013 to 26 in 2014. Also Melbourne has dropped the same number of posts, from 16 to 33, and Brisbane and Canberra have fallen outside the top 50.

The Mercer survey covers 211 cities across five continents, measuring the comparative cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. The main reason to explain these changes is the variation in the value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar, which have been credited for the drop in the rankings.

However, the results of the survey do not mean that Australian cities have become cheaper for Australians, but it makes Australian cities more attractive to expats and global companies.

The survey also reports that rent rises in Sydney and Melbourne. A quarterly report from Australian Property Monitors shows that asking rents in Melbourne and Sydney have increased, while other capital city markets remained subdued.

In Melbourne, unit rents increased to a median of $370 per week with median asking house rents remaining flat at $380 per week. In Sydney, unit rents have reached a peak of $500 per week. Hobart also experienced strong growth in unit rentals, but house rents remained flat in the city. All other capitals saw flat or declining rents for houses and units.

In any case, the rank of the most expensive and least expensive cities in the world in 2014 is really surprising about the cities which are in the top of the list. The most expensive cities, Luanda and N'Djamena are relatively affordable cities, but are quite costly for expatriates as imported goods come at a premium. About the bottom of the rank, many African cities are located on the last positions (Windhoek in Namibia, Johannesburg and Cape Town in South-Africa, or Tunis in Tunisia), accompanied of a few Middle East cities, and some Latin American.

According with the Mercer Cost of Living Survey- Worldwide Rankings 2014, this is the final rank of most expensive and least expensive cities to live in the world:

Most expensive cities in the world:

- Luanda, Angola

- N'Djamena, Chad

- Hong Kong, Hong Kong

- Singapore, Singapore

- Zurich, Switzerland

- Geneva, Switzerland

- Tokyo, Japan

- Moscow, Russia

- Shanghai, China

- Beijing, China

Least expensive cities to live:

- Karachi, Pakistan

- Windhoek, Namibia

- Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

- Islamabad, Pakistan

- Managua, Nicaragua

- Kolkata, India

- Cape Town, South Africa

- La Paz, Bolivia

- Johannesburg, South Africa

- Tunis, Tunisia

by Santi Ivar

Sources:

http://www.sbs.com.au