Dear James:
To follow up on a previous post, as information for US citizens looking to relocate to Australia, I offer a few very general suggestions.
Although Australia is a large continent, most of the population is located on the eastern sea-board mostly because of the arid interior. House prices have not fallen dramatically during the GFC and houses in capital cities are dearer than those in regional centres. But even in capital cities, there can be great differences in house prices in the different suburbs. I suggest that in the first instance that anyone relocating, rents for a period of time until they find their feet, a job, a location and a lifestyle with which they feel comfortable.
For a general overview of housing in Australia I suggest browsing through Realestate.com.au [1] or Domain.com.au [2]. Both of those sites will give plenty of information on houses/units/land for sale and houses/units for rent. – Margaret G.