October 12th REA Insights Weekly Commercial Search Report, 2020

Buyer search volumes on realcommercial.com.au held steady last week, while lease searches declined again.

Search volumes for commercial property were flat last week, remaining -4.6 per cent below their recent record high.

Over the past week, for sale search volumes fell in New South Wales (-2.0%) and Northern Territory (-10%) with increases elsewhere, the largest of which were in Victoria (6.9%) and Australian Capital Territory (6.6%).

For sale search volumes at the end of last week remained below their peak in all states, with the smallest falls in Australian Capital Territory (-5.0%) and Victoria (-7.9%) and the largest in Tasmania (-13.2%) and New South Wales (-10.5%).

Compared to the same time last year there has been an 18.1 per cent increase in buyer search volumes.

The two territories have recorded the largest year-on-year increases, with a 109.1 per cent increase in Australian Capital Territory and a 96.5 per cent rise in Northern Territory.

The smallest annual increases have been recorded in Victoria (11.5%) and New South Wales (13.2%). However, it should be noted that last week, New South Wales and Victoria combined accounted for almost three of every five searches for properties for sale.

Lease search volumes nationally fell by -1.5 per cent last week, their second consecutive weekly fall. Lease search volumes are now -11.5 per cent below their peak.

The volume of lease search volumes fell last week in half the states, with the largest declines in Northern Territory (-24.1%) and New South Wales (-8.3%), while the largest increases were in Western Australia (10.1%) and Victoria (5.8%).

Lease search volumes last week were below their peak in all states, with the smallest overall declines in Western Australia (-7.7%) and Queensland (-9.6%) and the largest in Australian Capital Territory (-26.9%) and New South Wales (-21.3%).

Although there has been some recent weekly declines in lease search volumes, they were still 28.9 per cent higher last week than they were at the same time last year.

The largest year-on-year increases in lease searches have been recorded in Tasmania (44.6%) and South Australia (31.4%) and the smallest in Northern Territory (14.8%) and Australian Capital Territory (17.4%).

Despite the fact that for sale and lease search volumes have fallen from their peak, they remain much higher than they were a year ago. With businesses likely to be increasingly cost-conscious due to the recession I expect that search volumes will remain elevated as businesses keep a close watch on the market for cheaper and more appropriate accommodation options.