/// International Property News
Perth Is Australia’s Most Expensive City
Perth costs could include
isolation, the cost of transport
and unnecessary regulations.
Daredevils Scale 128-Floor
Shanghai Tower Without
Ropes
He said surveys in the food
and beverage industry
revealed WA profits were
no higher than in the east,
suggesting genuine reasons
for higher prices in WA.
View of Northbridge in Perth from BHP Tower
Perth is Australia’s most
expensive city and one of the
priciest in the world as the
cost of living spirals higher.
An international breakdown
of prices from bread to coffee
to imported beer shows Perth
is the dearest Australian
capital.
And the city is more
expensive than global centres
such as New York and Tokyo.
The figures are based on data
from the Numbeo website
that collates real-time prices
around the world and has the
biggest collection of data of
its type.
Numbeo’s price index puts
Perth about 7 per cent dearer
than Sydney, the nation’s
second most expensive major
capital.
Some higher costs are dayto-day purchases. Perth’s
average milk price at $1.63 a
litre is well above the $1.47
in Sydney and $1.48 in
Melbourne.
Chicken breasts, apples, local
beer and oranges are all
more expensive in Perth than
elsewhere.
And once out of the kitchen,
Perth prices really take off.
Our dearest coffee is
notorious at an average $4.43
for a cappuccino in the city
- the most expensive in the
country and up with London
($4.40) and Tokyo ($4.13).
The situation is the same with
restaurant meals.
Numbeo’s analysis puts the
cost of three courses for a
82
couple in a mid-range
restaurant in Perth at $100. In
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
and Canberra the same night
out is closer to $80.
Beer can be $3 more in Perth
restaurants and bottled water
will cost on average about 7
per cent more than in Sydney.
A pair of jeans is $20 dearer
in Perth than Hobart and
about $5 more than in
Melbourne.
Mr Woods said the mining
boom resulted in higher
wages.
“We’ve got to be very mindful
that we don’t outprice
ourselves and still offer value
for money,” he said.
“Higher prices are a careful
balancing act between viability
for business operators
and service providers and
ensuring it’s not a disincentive
for people to live and visit.”
The average price for Nike
shoes is more than $160
in Perth but $9 cheaper in
Sydney.
Australian Retailers
Association executive director
Russell Zimmerman was
surprised at the findings
because Sydney retailers had
the highest tenancy costs.
Perth’s only saving grace
is property with rents and
buying prices still lower than
Sydney.
He suspected transport costs,
mining boom flow-on effects
and higher labour costs were
behind Perth’s higher prices.
Chamber of Commerce and
Industry WA chief economist
John Nicolaou said Numbeo’s
findings confirmed Perth was
a high-cost place to live and
do business.
Tourism Council WA chief
executive Evan Hall said
Consumer Price Index
statistics consistently showed
Perth was not the most
expensive Australian city.
Labour was “without doubt”
the main contributor but
Perth’s isolation meant costs
such as freight and logistics
were often dearer.
Curtin University cultural
studies professor Jon Stratton
said the perception that Perth
people earned lots of money
could contribute to higher
prices.
“WA’s rapid development
has put further pressure on
ageing infrastructure and
driven up labour costs,” Mr
Nicolaou said.
He suggested the Federal
and State governments could
ease some costs through
labour reforms, less red tape
and addressing infrastructure
shortfalls.
Australian Hotels Association
WA chief executive Bradley
Woods said factors behind
www.PropertyHunter.com.my
The figures come as ABS data
released yesterday showed
Perth house prices rose
another 3.5 per cent in the
December quarter.
Community Housing Coalition
WA chief executive Barry
Doyle said this reflected an
“alarming level” of inflation
in the cost of WA home
ownership.
Insane daredevils above the clouds on Shanghai Tower
A pair of masked
Russian thrill-seekers
climbed the secondtallest building in the
world without safety
equipment to film
above the clouds.
Adrenalin junkies Vitaliy
Raskalov, 20, and Vadim
Makhorov, 24, captured
the dizzying bird’s eye
view from the top of the
Shanghai Tower after a
two-hour ascent.
The pair, from
Novosibirsk and
Moscow filmed
th emselves breaking
into and climbing the
2,130ft (650 metres)
tower - twice the height
of London’s Shard
building.
Apparently unsatisfied
with the view, they then
climbed the crane on
top of the partiallyconstructed building
in Shanghai’s Luijiazui
district.
Unbelievably, the selfstyled “sky walkers”
used no safety
equipment on their
ascent and had to
wait for the cover of
darkness to avoid the
Chinese authorities.
Mr Makhorov said,
“there are a lot of
guards and cameras
around in the day time,
so we started climbing
during the night, it was
easier to stay unnoticed
that way.
“It took about two hours
to get to the top, but
when we got there we
could only see clouds.
“We had to wait for
hours for the clouds
to part, but it was well
worth the wait, the view
was like something from
an aircraft window.
“As soon as we saw a
gap in the clouds were
climbed right to the top
of the crane and were
able to get some great
shots of the city below.
“We were not afraid
at all and we have
never had any injuries
as a result of our sky
walking.
“As a result of our
‘mission’, we didn’t
get any sleep for
over 24 hours, it was
physically and mentally
challenging for the both
of us.
“Our target was to
climb the highest
tower in China and the
seconds highest in the
world, it felt amazing to
accomplish it, the sky is
the limit!”
In just one month
in 2013, the duo
conquered 12 cities in
seven countries, scaling
famous landmarks
including the Eiffel
Tower, and Barcelona’s
Sagrada Familia
cathedral.
To watch it all:
http://www.youtube.
com/watch?
v=gLDYtH1RH-U