REA Insights Commercial Search Report – June 9
After an elongated growth period, search volumes for properties for sale and lease slid last week.
After nine consecutive weeks of consistent increases in searches, the volume of searches for properties for sale on realcommercial.com.au fell by -2.8 per cent last week.
The volume of searches for properties for sale was lower over the week across all states and territories, with the largest falls in Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia while Queensland and Victoria had more modest falls.
However, compared to the same week last year, for sale search volumes remain 10.1 per cent higher.
Tasmania was the only state or territory in which for sale searches were lower year-on-year (-3%) with the largest increases recorded in Australian Capital Territory (63.2%) and Northern Territory (35.5%).
Searches for commercial properties for lease reduced by -1.8 per cent last week – their first decline since mid-March.
Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory were the only states and territories in which lease searches rose last week, while Western Australia and Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest falls.
Despite the weekly fall in lease searches, volumes last week were 21.6 per cent higher than at the same time last year.
The only state or territory in which lease search volumes were lower compared to last year was Australian Capital Territory (-10.4%) while Tasmania (41.2%) and New South Wales (22.6%) have recorded the largest increases.
It is still likely that as employees start to return to offices and government support is tapered that many businesses will be in cost-saving mode. Part of those considerations will be their accommodation requirements and we expect that many businesses will be assessing their needs and looking to downsize or relocate to more affordable options.
Despite the weekly fall in search volumes, it is anticipated that there is still likely to be a keen interest in commercial accommodation options over the coming months.
