Canberra corrects as Queensland confidence builds

The latest Property Council of Australia’s Office Market Report data to July 2026 shows national vacancy edged up to 16.1 per cent from 15.9 per cent six months earlier. Net absorption across the country turned negative for the first time in several reporting periods, with occupiers handing back 7,805 square metres more than they leased over the six months to July, a reversal from the 51,966 square metres of positive take-up recorded in the prior half. Annual absorption is held at 57,161 square metres.

New stock additions collapsed to 82,078 square metres nationally over the half, down from 287,970 square metres previously. The development pipeline that has weighed on vacancy for the best part of three years is finally tapering, setting up a market where softer demand is meeting a thinner supply pipeline over the second half of 2026.

Canberra is working through structural change rather than cyclical softness. Vacancy climbed from 10.2 per cent to 14.7 per cent, with negative absorption of 72,602 square metres over six months and -62,473 square metres over the year. Government tenants are consolidating footprints and relocating into more efficient space, releasing older stock back to the market in the process. This is not being driven by economic weakness, the ACT continues to record equal lowest unemployment nationally at 4.1 per cent, so the correction reflects tenant strategy rather than reduced demand for labour or office based work in the territory.
Within the CBD markets, the more encouraging signals are coming from prime stock in Brisbane and Perth. Brisbane CBD vacancy fell to 10.2 per cent from 11.8 per cent and Perth CBD improved to 15.4 per cent from 16.9 per cent, both approaching levels not seen in several years. With little new supply due in either market over the coming twelve months, prime assets in these cities are increasingly well positioned, tightening availability of quality space typically supports rental growth well ahead of any broader recovery in secondary stock. Queensland shares the ACT's equal lowest unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent, but here the tight labour market is meeting genuine business expansion rather than tenant consolidation and confidence is building further as the 2032 Olympics draws closer. The Gold Coast reflects this same momentum, with vacancy tightening to 7.3 per cent, among the lowest in the country, as the infrastructure pipeline and population growth lift sentiment well beyond Brisbane itself.