Commercial Property Fundamentals
Continue to Improve for Investors


The mid-year report from the Property Council of Australia (PCA) has confirmed a tightening of all major Office markets — except for Sydney and the Gold Coast.

As you can see from the graph, Sydney’s vacancy rate actually increased from 8.3% to 9.3% during the six months to July 2011.

For the remainder of Australia’s office markets, there was an overall improvement — as demand for space exceeded supply, and yields began to firm.

According to Peter Verwer (PCA’s chief executive): “This is a good result, especially now with a lot of uncertainty about Australia’s economic resilience … demand and absorption are well above the historical average, except for the orphan Sydney.”

From this second graph, you will also notice that the Melbourne Office market has been consistently outgrowing Sydney, since about July 2004.

Furthermore, because of Sydney’s heavy dependence upon the financial sector … this growth trend is unlikely to change any time soon.

Melbourne, on the other hand, has its Office demand spread across a wide number of sectors. And therefore, has been far less exposed to the recent global turmoil.

Bottom Line: Despite all the stock market gloom, the underlying fundamentals for Commercial property are strong — particularly in Melbourne.

And historically, it is in times like these when shrewd investors have laid the foundation for their extraordinary fortunes in Commercial property.

 

Office Sector Set to Surge Ahead

Offices are enjoying strong demand
Australia-wide, Office vacancies are falling.

And Melbourne leads the way at 5.5%; with Perth close behind, at 6.6% — due to the rebound in mining activity.

Offices set to SurgeAccording to the Property Council of Australia, these vacancy levels will reach 4.9% and 6.1% respectively, by January of next year.

With zero space coming onto the market in Melbourne, landlords will be well-placed to renegotiate far more attractive deals, as leases fall due for renewal.

Whereas, Brisbane’s current vacancy level of 9.2% is expected to blow out to 9.8% — making it very much a tenants’ market, as far as lease negotiations are concerned.

While rents are rising in most capital cities, selling yields are set to fall as well. This double benefit will be reflected in strong capital growth over the next four years.

Bottom Line: Shrewd investors are currently ranking their preferred Commercial sectors as follows …

  1. Office (both suburban and CBD)
  2. Industrial
  3. Retail

Now is the time for you to start re-balancing your portfolio — and ride the growth wave through to 2018.


“It’s Now Official: Offices are the Go!”


Over the past month or so, I’ve been making certain predictions about the Office markets around Australia.

But in a recent survey, the Property Council of Australia (PCA) now makes all of that official: Office vacancy levels have fallen to 9.5% overall — down from 10% in mid-last year. And this has been driven by strong growth in the mining and financial sectors. [Read more…]

State of the Commercial Market?

CBD Office Vacancies

CBD Office Vacancies


As you would expect, the financial turmoil worldwide has had a significant effect on most property markets. However, the effect has not been the same across the board.

The current state of the various CBD office markets is probably your best barometer of future activity for two reasons. First, the Property Council of Australia (PCA) conducts six-monthly surveys to establish the CBD vacancy rates right around Australia.
[Read more…]

Which Australian Office Markets are in Trouble?

Queensland seems to have been hardest hit. And in particular the Gold Coast, where vacancy levels have soared to around 18%.

But the difficulties confronting Queensland (and fellow mining State WA) are not necessarily reflected Australia-wide.
[Read more…]