Real Estate is a hot topic here, as it is in many places in the world. Frankly, I don't really see what the big deal is - Australia is a huge country and if you're willing to live a New York City sized commute from Melbourne, you should be able to find something affordable. Understandably, people are reluctant to do so and rather do enjoy living close to the city with all the community and amenities that come with it.

Most of the properties here are sold by auction method. You can see the houses on the market as you drive past them since they have huge billboards in their front yards, as you see above.

The auction mentioned on this sign was one Ilana and I actually attended - we happened to be in the neighborhood at the time and we were curious to see the auction in action. The property, which was an estate sale following the death of the owner, was a three-bedroom, one bathroom unrenovated unit (in desperate need of a complete makeover) with a small garage and no other land. It was a unit in small row of joined units, a common cost-saving layout you see in Melbourne's suburbs. It sold for AUD $465,000, which was considered a very good deal. (FYI, 1 AUD = approximately 0.95 USD)

If you want to talk about the other extreme, it is possible to find blocks of undeveloped land of varying sizes listed in deep rural Victoria for about $15,000. And we're talking about land with access to local utilities. Can anyone say, "summer home?"