June 15 REA Insights Weekly Commercial Search Report, 2021

Searches to buy and lease commercial property remained relatively unchanged over the past week, though remain above last year’s levels.

The number of searches to buy commercial property on realcommercial.com.au increased by 0.3% nationally over the past week, with volumes now sitting 26.7% above last year’s levels.

Search volumes were supported by Victoria and South Australia which rose by 2.3% and 3.5% respectively, outweighing falls in the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Queensland.

Buy searches are sitting well above last year’s levels in every state except for the Australian Capital Territory, with the strongest year-on-year growth seen in the Northern Territory (46.6%) and South Australia (37.9%).

Searches to lease commercial property increased by just 0.2% over the past week and are now 2.6% higher compared to 12 months ago.

Victoria saw the strongest rise in lease searches over the past week, up 4.9%. Supporting this rise was the relaxation of restrictions in Victoria which enabled inspections to resume, resulting in some pent-up demand.

Despite lease searches being up nationally year-on-year, there is significant variation by state. South Australia (21.2%) and the Australian Capital Territory (7.5%) have seen the strongest growth over the past 12 months while Western Australia (-8.2%) and Victoria (-4.4%), in contrast, have seen search volumes fall.

Search volumes, particularly to lease commercial property, typically slow coming into the end of financial year. For this reason, search volumes are unlikely to remain around, or slightly below, current levels.