Research

The Australian commercial property market has experienced another difficult year, with total volumes declining by 12.3 per cent to $54.6 billion in the latest financial year.

Retail properties have seen a revival this year, with transaction volumes rising as confidence grows, particularly among private investors.

In the last ten years, alternative investments have gained broader appeal. Institutional investors have shown interest in larger assets like data centres, student housing, pubs, and even caravan parks, elevating the sophistication of these asset classes.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially brought mixed results to the property market. Economic uncertainty led many to postpone property-related decisions, causing declines in residential values and a slowdown in commercial investment across all asset classes.

Over the past two decades, the number of data centres around the world has been steadily increasing, with Australia now ranking as the seventh most populous country for these facilities.

Over the past decade, the childcare sector has experienced significant growth within the alternative commercial property market.

The tourism sector has been one of the more active asset classes of the past few years.

Parking in Australia’s CBDs has seen significant changes over the past ten years.

The latest PCA/MSCI property returns data has been released for the quarter ending March 2024, showing some sobering results across the commercial property market.

Institutional investors will continue to seek out strong returning industrial assets which factor in risk appropriately and demand will continue to turn a corner for a new era of residential property, making beds and sheds the most sought after assets.

Tourism numbers continue to bounce back each period, after the lows of 2021, supporting a renewed interest in the hotel property sector.

The RLB Crane Index has been released for Q1 2024 and is showing stable yet high results in crane numbers across both residential and non-residential property types.