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Perth Office Market
Perth office vacancy steady despite record new supply
Perth CBD office vacancy rates remain steady, despite a record injection of new office supply equivalent to almost two Central Park buildings.
The latest Property Council of Australia Office Market Report shows a total of 157,926 sqm was added to the Perth CBD market in the 6 months to July 2012, the highest on record. Major new buildings including Brookfield Place and Raine Square are now online.
Vacancy rates for the Perth CBD increased from 3.3 percent to 4.2 percent despite the record new supply, reflecting a handful of major moves by tenants where space is yet to be backfilled.
Property Council of Australia WA Executive Director, Joe Lenzo, says the latest numbers demonstrate how tight the Perth CBD office market will be over the next two years if current rates of strong demand continue.
“The demand for CBD office space is the highest on record. A total of 115,503 sqm of space was filled in the 6 months to August, which is the equivalent to filling Perth’s tallest tower, Central Park, almost two times over,” Mr Lenzo says.
“At this rate of strong demand, supply of new office space is unlikely to keep pace with demand in the short term. A total of 19,472 sqm of new office space is planned for 2013.”
Premium Grade office was one of the tightest sectors in the Perth CBD with a vacancy of only 1.3 percent in July 2012.
“The office vacancy rate was highest for the C Grade sector at 6.1 percent. This was the only sector to also record a significant negative take-up of office space and it reflects the much stronger demand for higher quality buildings”, says Mr Lenzo.
In West Perth the overall vacancy rate decreased from 4.4 percent to 3.2 percent in the six months to July 2012.
West Perth experienced its highest demand on record, with 19,943 sqm of space taken up in the 6 months to July. There was an addition of 18,642 sqm of new office supply in West Perth.
“A further 15,866 sqm of new office supply is due to come online in West Perth in the second half of 2012, but only 4213 sqm is scheduled in 2013,” Mr Lenzo says.
For further information of Perth Office Market visit the www.officemarketreport.com.au