August 16 REA Insights Weekly Commercial Search Report, 2021

Searches to buy and lease commercial property on realcommercial.com.au grew in most states last week.

Buyer searches on realcommercial.com.au have recorded their strongest week-on-week growth since March, rising 4.9%. This was despite a sharp fall in searches in the Australian Capital Territory.

Compared to 12 months ago, search volumes are sitting 23.3% higher.

Last week’s growth in buyer searches followed four consecutive weeks of declines, with overall searches still below the levels seen prior to Greater Sydney’s lockdown.

The Australian Capital Territory was the only state or territory to see buy searches down last week, volumes falling by 14.7% following the implementation of a seven-day lockdown.

Lease searches also saw a return to growth after declining over the previous four weeks. Lease searches are up 1.9% over the week, but down 3.2% compared to 12 months ago.

The weekly growth in lease searches was driven by Queensland which, after emerging from lockdown, saw search volumes jump by 14.5%. Further illustrating the impact of snap lockdowns on short term demand, the Australian Capital Territory saw lease searches down 10.3% over the week.

To date, the market to lease commercial property has been more impacted by lockdowns than the market to buy. While restrictions have significant implications for businesses looking to lease over the short-term, buyers typically have a longer-term view. The expectation that the vaccine rollout will reduce the risk of lockdowns in 2022 is supporting buyer confidence.