July 20th REA Insights Weekly Commercial Property Search Report, 2020

Searches for both properties for sale and lease on realcommercial.com.au rose last week.

There was a 0.7 per cent increase in the volume of searches for commercial properties for sale last week –  the first increase in search volumes in three weeks.

Despite heading back into lockdown, Victoria actually recorded the largest weekly increase in for sale searches (3.4%) followed by Australian Capital Territory (2.4%).  Search volumes fell in South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory.

Although for sale search volumes increased last week, they have fallen by -4.4 per cent from their peak, with Northern Territory (-36.3%), Tasmania (-24.1%) and Australian Capital Territory (-22.9%) recording the largest falls while Victoria (-4.9%) and South Australia a(-4.5%) experiencing the smallest.

For sale search volumes are 8.8 per cent higher than they were a year ago, with Tasmania (-17.7%) the only state in which they are lower. South Australia (22.9%) and Australian Capital Territory (16.2%) have recorded the largest year-on-year increases.

After three weeks in which search volumes fell by more than 3 per cent each week, lease search volumes rose 2.0 per cent last week and are now sitting -10.4 per cent lower than their peak.

Lease search volumes were lower last week in New South Wales, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory over the week, while Victoria and Tasmania (both 4.5%) experienced the largest increases in searches.

Tasmania is the only state in which lease search volumes were at a record-high last week, while Northern Territory (-38.9%) and Victoria (-16.3%) have recorded the largest overall falls since their recent peaks.

Despite some recent weakness, lease search volumes are 18.9 per cent higher than a year ago with Northern Territory (-9.5%) and Australian Capital Territory (-0.9%) the only states/territories in which they are lower than a year ago. Tasmania (30.0%) and Queensland (21.7%) have recorded the largest annual increases in lease searches.

With the downward trend broken it will be interesting to see where the data goes from here. Victoria is of particular interest given the lockdowns and the alrge increases in searches last week. Perhaps this highlights that as things shutdown again businesses are focusing a lot more on how they can save on accommodation costs post-lockdown.