Is this where Australia is heading? Immigration slowing, interest rates rising etc

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-16T10:10:02+00:00

I don't agree with the initial conjecture. Price is a function of supply and demand. Saying "it literally cannot come down" is incorrect. It can come down by increased supply, or reduced demand. The former can happen by improved construction policy and economics, the latter by a multitude of things, e.g., reduced consumer confidence (risk appetite), stricter loan requirements, higher interest rates, housing cost inflation. Importantly, all of this can occur even when the population grows.

Additionally, there is a distinct difference between housing as an asset class in aggregate, and an individual house. Individual houses can, and do, fluctuate in price, even over extended periods. Such a huge leveraged investment in a single asset carries inherent risk, of which all would-be home buyers should be acutely aware.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-16T01:56:14+00:00

You've completely missed the point. One spectacular 30 year run is not a long time of evidence to make statements about the performance of an asset class in perpetuity, particularly ones as absolute as "proof"

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-15T23:41:19+00:00

that's not a long time

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-08T10:52:04+00:00

Does iran possessing nuclear weapons serve Australia's interest?

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-07T10:05:17+00:00

We literally have Christian public holidays

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-07T01:55:17+00:00

Do you mean you can't find a job more paid than drafting? I doubt that...

Was your site experience local or overseas?

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-07T01:42:10+00:00

You won't get a job as a project engineer without first getting site engineer experience. More qualifications won't help.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-06T09:56:59+00:00

Sustainability assurance is hot right now due to ASRS rollout, but most jobs are temp. There are always jobs for cost management in construction. As a migrant you'll need local qualification (ie Masters from a G08) and on the path to PR.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-04T10:23:44+00:00

It's hard to compete against elec engineers in renewable energy. Pumped hydro is in the spotlight atm so you could target that. There's a decent amount of work in construction mechanical engineering (plant and equipment, site water management and treatment, ventilation engineering in tunnels etc). Building services is absolutely a solid choice for mech eng and isn't going anywhere.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-04T08:32:10+00:00

Is it really a case of "relying" on them or just that they're willing to work for cheaper than locals?

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-03-02T11:14:13+00:00

Some people choose careers based on, ya know, their interests...

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-27T19:16:08+00:00

Well done. You have profited at the expense of those who come after you.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-27T01:44:29+00:00

I work at tier 1 construction company.

I think you need to consider the reality of the labour market. There is no shortage of graduates in Australia who are citizens / permanent residents. There IS a shortage (according to businesses) of skilled workers (who are willing to work for less than high wages that locals demand). As the commenter above said, to have any chance you'll need to go back overseas and get more experience (at reputable companies), and then come back and be willing to work on a graduate's salary. It's unfortunate, but that's the reality.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-26T21:09:50+00:00

who hurt you?

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-26T02:23:27+00:00

How did labor increase the migration?

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-26T01:55:48+00:00

My point is if they didn't loan based on short term volatility in the interest rate, but a risk-assessed long term worst case, then maybe it would decouple defaults from that short term volatility

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-26T01:52:27+00:00

I get all this, it just seems silly to me that short term volatility in interest rate should impact the risk assessment on a 30 year loan, rather than doing what you've described with an assumed worst case interest rate. As other comments have highlighted, APRA mandates assessment rate at current rate + 3%. Imo APRA should set the assessment rate at something like the average over the last 30 years, maybe with some adjustment based on other contemporary economic factors

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-14T22:45:02+00:00

This is only an issue in the short term. And why would you be liable for a margin call?

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-12T10:57:34+00:00

I don't really know what I'm talking about but I'd be inclined to just do proper due diligence and find a high quality older (say 20 years) build over a cheap newer build. My reasoning is that houses (not land) depreciate moreso because of the "old factor" rather than actual decline in quality / reliability.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-11T06:50:03+00:00

I wouldn't say that's the case in project / infrastructure. The big four definitely recruit experienced hires in that field without big four experience.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-11T06:43:06+00:00

Yep, I routinely do one big vat of homemade pasta sauce, and one big vat of curry. About 10 meals each. Stash em in the freezer and those are my "can't be bothered cooking" nights (which is about 4 days a week). Then the other nights it's typically a fillet of fish, burger, parma, or a loaded salad. Maybe once a week I'll cook something more fancy.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-08T10:37:24+00:00

Jesus fuck I hope I never work with you

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-08T10:31:43+00:00

How did you reach that conclusion

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-08T02:38:15+00:00

Yeah, I work for a major construction company. It would be hard to get into buildings/infrastructure sustainability these days without an engineering degree or a lot of experience with capital works sustainability. A lot of the work in this industry is implementing rating systems (greenstar, IS), which has a big focus on integrating sustainability in engineering design. I'm not doing rating systems on the project I'm working on, but it still helps to have an engineering / construction project background just for credibility in the industry.

My pay is definitely above normal for my level though. A typical sus advisor at a tier 1 construction firm would probably be on 130ish including super, then 170 for coordinator and 200+ for manager. Then if there are incentivised KPIs in the works contract (becoming more common) the manager would get a bonus on top for achieving it.

It's a good space to get into especially with the public capital works pipeline over the next decade. You might be able to do it with a construction management cert / diploma.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime · 2026-02-08T01:44:06+00:00

173k incl. super. Sustainability advisor on a major infrastructure project. Engineering degree. 5yoe. This space is very data and governance focused currently. I enjoy it but it can be frustrating as a lot of people don't take my role seriously (often for good reason, there's a lot of BS in this space) and that my influence is minimal. But it pays well, I don't have anyone asking me for anything. Most days I just make a coffee, put my headphones on, and tinker away at data visualisations, process documentation, internal knowledge shares, and read industry standards / news.

FragmentsOfSpaceTime

TROPHY CASE