REA Insights Commercial Property Snapshot, November 2020

One thing is clear – Australia is hawkishly watching the commercial real estate market.

Searches for commercial property for sale on realcommercial.com.au hit an all-time high in October, while lease searches continue to surge.

The emerging headline is Melbourne, with the data already showing that the easing of restrictions in the Victorian capital is driving strong  growth for both ‘Lease’ and ‘Buy’, comparable to the rebound observed after the first wave of COVID-19 in May/June.

In this month’s commercial snapshot, we continue to track search volumes over time and demand by category. We also provide a view of user behaviour by analysing the most-searched keywords per asset class as well as looking at the most popular commercial property listings for the month.

How are search volumes tracking?

October saw the highest number of national ‘Buy’ searches to date, up 22 per cent from the same time last year. This was attributed to the record-high searches in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.

The lease sector brought about similar results, albeit to a lesser degree. National lease searches in October were the second highest ever observed, clocking 29 per cent year-on-year growth.

Northern Territory actually experienced its highest month on record for both ‘Buy’ and ‘Lease’ searches, likely on the back of the state’s government measures put in place in April to combat the effects of COVID-19.

Despite Victoria not breaking its previous high in June, ‘Buy’ search volumes increased 10 per cent, while ‘Lease’ search volumes increased 13 per cent month-on-month.

Search volumes for all commercial property categories increased month-on-month. The largest growth was for retail (8%), medical/consulting listings (8%) and showrooms (6%).

What are people and businesses looking to buy?

The ‘Buy’ section recorded national year-on-year growth of 25 per cent in views per listing, with all categories recording significant year-on-year growth.

Hotel/leisure and showroom listings in New South Wales were the only exception, observing an 8 per cent and 4 per cent year-on-year decline respectively.

In October, land/development listings recorded the highest increase of 13 per cent month-on-month. This was driven by Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, which saw a month-on-month increase 19 per cent, 14 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Additionally, views per listing for showrooms grew month-on-month by 8 per cent, led by a strong 42 per cent increase in the Australian Capital Territory and a 24 per cent jump in Queensland despite listing volumes remaining consistent to what they were one year ago.

As restrictions eased, Victoria recorded strong month-on-month growth in views per listing for most categories. The greatest increases were seen for land/development listings (19%), offices (17%) and warehouses (12%).

What are people and businesses looking to lease?

Growth in views per listing for the lease sector was even stronger – up 42 per cent year-on-year nationally.

All categories bar commercial farming recorded month-on-month growth in views per listing, the highest of which was medical/consulting listings (14%), followed by land/development and office listings, both of which recorded a 10 per cent growth.

Victoria recorded a 25 per cent month-on-month increase in views per listing for the medical/consulting sector and a 20 per cent growth in retail.

Interest for Victorian offices also rebounded this month, as the state recorded a 26 per cent increase in views per listing. Enquiries from Victoria for the lease sector are also on the up, growing  28 per cent in October.

What are the features that people and businesses are looking for?

Above we look at the most-used keywords for commercial property seekers over the past six months.

In this month’s analysis, we see ‘residential’ becoming more important when searching for land/development listings, moving from third- to second-most searched keyword for that category.

This ‘residential’ theme similarly appears in the medical/consulting category as the third-most searched keyword. This is the first instance where this keyword/category search combination has been observed in the most searched keyword list.

What have been the most popular commercial listings? 

See the top 10 most viewed commercial listings nationally and in each state below.

The most viewed commercial listings that is still on the market is an office suite in East Victoria Park, WA.