Far out Friday: What an Australian mortgage buys you overseas

The average Australian’s mortgage runs at about $347,500. Just in case you were wondering – here’s what that amount buys you in other parts of the world:

• Tuscany, Italy: $A337,435 buys you a fully-restored five bedroom villa, complete with terrace and cellar, terracotta floors, and vaulted ceilings - 45 minute's drive from the nearest ski resort.
• Sevres, outside Paris: a mere $A277,391 gets you a three bedroom restored 18th century farmhouse with its own lake, private wooded parkland, granite features and wood-burning stoves.
• Nelson, New Zealand: less than $A396,000 could see you owning a four-bedroom home overlooking the Tasman sea – right above your three car garage, in the heart of kiwi wine country.
• Jimbaran Bay, Bali: a fully-furnished three-story villa could be yours (for 25 years, at least, under lease conditions) for $A348,000. This includes views of Jimbaran Bay, a 50m green natural stone pool, gazebo, tropical garden, home theatre – and a spare room for the maid.
• Tokyo: In case you were starting to feel sorry for yourself, the same amount buys you a paltry 32.25 square metre apartment in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, built in 1974 – not including annual maintenance fees.

    And, for the record, $347,500 also buys you approximately:

• 34 first-class flights to London on Christmas Eve;
• 1 ¼ bottles of the world’s most expensive champagne (Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsiek);
• 115 Tibetan Mastiffs (the world’s most expensive dog breed);
• And precisely 105 of the world’s most expensive ice-cream Sundays - which consist of a banana split made with syrups from three rare dessert wines, served with an ice cream spoon from the 1850s - If you give the Californian ice cream shop that serves the creations a day's notice, they'll even procure a cellist to play while you eat them.