The Current Office Market is Rather Confusing

IF WORKING FROM HOME is so appealing, why are businesses and governments choosing to hold onto their office space – and in many cases, lease even more?

According to the Property Council of Australia, Melbourne’s CBD towers were only 12% occupied in December – but 88% leased. And Sydney’s CBD towers were 23% occupied, but 91% leased. [Read more…]

CBD Offices … After Covid

BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, there was a shortage of office space looming within the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs.

In fact, both were heading towards unhealthy vacancy levels of around 2% to 3%.

However, with extended lockdowns and some new supply coming onto the market … all that has clearly changed. [Read more…]

Commercial Property Outlook

THERE HAS BEEN much talk about Commercial Property emerging post-Covid. So, let’s quickly explore just how things are likely to unfold. [Read more…]

How Will COVID Affect CBD Office Vacancy Rates?

IN LATE JANUARY, the Property Council of Australia released its 6-monthly summary of CBD vacancy rates around Australia.

And not surprisingly, there has been an increase across the board – following a slow return of office work, as a result of COVID. [Read more…]

Commercial Property: Where Should You Invest, Right Now?

PCA Office Survey provides a snapshotEVERY SIX MONTHS, the Property Council of Australia (PCA) conducts a nation-wide survey on the state of the Office market around the country.

The accompanying graph will give you a quick snapshot of where things currently stand.

However, even the Commercial property market has been subject to the influences of the much talked about “2-speed economy”. [Read more…]

Commercial Property to Benefit From Structural Changes Within the Economy

Industry Restructure is necessary for Australia's long-term growth.IN CASE you missed the lead story in last Friday’s Financial Review … the Treasury secretary (Martin Parkinson) was outspokenly critical of the government’s recent handouts to the car industry.

And more particularly, given the recent strong growth in the unemployment figures.

In his view, taxpayers ought not be subsidising so-called “strategic industries” — when these represent inevitable structural changes, which need to occur in order to make Australia more productive in the long-term. [Read more…]

National Office Market Shows Steady Improvement

LAST WEEK, the Property Council of Australia released its Office Space survey, for the 6 months to January 2012. And this will have some interesting implications for the Commercial property market.

National Vacancy Rates have fallen over the past 6 monthsAcross the 26 markets depicted in this chart … demand was up 20% up and supply 30% down, on the 20-year average for the six-monthly period.

As you can see, total vacancies fell from 9.0% to 7.9% — the lowest since January 2009. And perhaps a quick summary of the CBD Office markets would be worthwhile. [Read more…]

Commercial Property: What Makes for a Balanced Office Market?

EVERY capital city has both a CBD and suburban Office market. And as you can appreciate, keeping tabs on all the various suburban markets is almost an impossible task for most investors.

But generally speaking, the health (or otherwise) of the CBD Office markets within each capital city will provide you with a fairly good gauge of the overall Office scene around Australia.

Accordingly, this graph will provide you with a clear picture of what has occurred over the past 4 years.

As a rule of thumb, Office markets are said to the “in balance”, when their Vacancy Rate lies between 5% and 7%. [Read more…]

“Where You Live Should NOT
Dictate Where You Actually Invest!”

Always consider the emerging trendsWherever you live, you tend to believe (and will happily tell people) that it is undoubtedly the best place to live.

Really, it’s just human nature.

But when it comes to investing your hard-earned dollars into Commercial property … your decisions should be governed by something more than a warm and fuzzy feeling.

For the past four or five years, Victoria has led the nation in economic growth; and it is one of the few enjoying a net growth in migration from other states.

Employment Growth shows some interesting trendsFurthermore, the latest ABS figures now confirm Victoria’s continued growth and job creation — leading all-comers over the past 12 months.

And you’ll also notice most of the various service sectors are currently outstripping the mining sector, as far as employment numbers are concerned. [Read more…]

CBD Offices in Demand

Full-floors becoming scarce.

Within CBDs around Australia, the number of whole Office floors available to tenants is falling rapidly.

In the last post, you heard about the general decline in Office vacancy is within the capital cities.

But here, you’re looking at a situation where large corporate tenants will find it increasingly difficult to secure whole floors within quality buildings — according to Savills Research.

While Sydney still has a greater number of full floors available, these should quickly be taken up with increased activity from the finance and insurance sectors.

Bottom Line: This will put upwards pressure on Office rentals around Australia; and underpin good growth prospects for Commercial landlords, over the next 3 to 4 years.

Office Leasing the Stand-out Performer

OfficeTake-up
Office leasing activity picked up in most capital cities around Australia, over the past year. In some instances, quite significantly.

And with the supply side basically “on hold”, you should soon start to see this translate into some solid rental increases.
[Read more…]