Perth’s office market has been tipped to record the strongest growth among capital cities, as vacancies tighten further, new figures from CBRE say.
CBRE’s latest Australian CBD Office Market report showed prime rents grew by 10.2 per cent during the year to December 31, 2011, reaching $716 per square metre.
Prime vacancies hit 1 per cent, or just 8,500sqm of vacant space, in January, CBRE said.
“This is forcing rents to climb quickly in the city which has been home to the highest average prime CBD rent in Australia,” CBRE said.
“This has been the case since the start of the global financial crisis in late 2007.”
CBRE said it expected Perth office rents to grow by 4.5 per cent over 2012.
“All of the major CBD markets are expected to register rental growth at or above CPI during that time,” CBRE said.
“However, it will be very much a two-speed recovery, with resources being a key driver in the continued expansion of the Queensland and West Australian economies – and by extension the Brisbane and Perth office markets.
“Conversely, slow revenue growth in the finance sector and professional services and limited activity in the government sector is likely to curtail short term growth in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
“In addition, caution in the business sector is continuing to impact on the length of time taken for lease deals to be finalised.”
The research follows data from Knight Frank, released last week, that ranked Perth seventh among world office markets by price, at $US259.47 per square metre per year.
