September 21st REA Insights Weekly Commercial Search Report, 2020

Commercial search volumes rose again last week, driven by activity in News South Wales and Victoria.

The volume of searches for properties for sale on realcommercial.com.au increased by 2.2 per cent last week. Search volumes are now just -2.7 per cent lower than their historic peak.

Despite the growth in the national figure, only New South Wales (1.2%), Victoria (1.2%) and South Australia (0.8%) recorded increases last week, with falls elsewhere, the largest of which were in Northern Territory (-24.3%) and Western Australia (-8.7%).

Northern Territory (-30.1%) and Australian Capital Territory (-17.5%) have recorded the largest declines in for sale search volumes from their peak, while New South Wales (-4.2%) and South Australia (-4.3%) have recorded the smallest overall falls.

Year-on-year for sale search volumes have increased by 18.6 per cent nationally.

Victoria (4.7%) and New South Wales (12.3%) have recorded the smallest year-on-year increases in buyer searches, while Australian Capital Territory (72.6%) and South Australia (45.2%) have seen the largest increases.

Lease search volumes increased for the second week last week. The 1.5 per cent increase means lease searches are now -9.1 per cent lower than their historic high. Last week marked the highest volume of lease searches in 11 weeks.

Half of the states recorded a weekly increase in lease searches last week, with the largest falls in Australian Capital Territory (-9.9%) and Western Australia (-5.9%) and the largest increases in Victoria (4.9%) and New South Wales (1.9%).

Victoria (-23.8%) and Australian Capital Territory (-16.6%) have recorded the largest overall declines in lease searches from their peak, while South Australia (-3.2%) and Queensland (-4.5%) have recorded the smallest falls.

Year-on-year lease search volumes have increased by 27.1 per cent nationally.

Lease searches are higher over the year in all states, with the smallest rises in Victoria (8.2%) and Australian Capital Territory (16.7%) and the largest in Tasmania (44.3%) and South Australia (38.6%).

Overall it appears that interest in commercial properties is increasing.

With the economy coming out of recession and demand for commercial property overall likely to soften it seems that many businesses are keeping a close watch on the market to see if they can find cheaper or more appropriate accommodation.