August 9 REA Insights Weekly Commercial Search Report, 2021

Commercial search activity continued to slide last week, as Victoria re-joined New South Wales and Queensland in lockdown.

Searches to buy commercial property were down 0.6% last week, marking the fourth consecutive week of declines.

Compared to 12 months ago, searches remain 31.9% higher. This is largely due to the strength of recovery in Victoria following its prolonged second lockdown at the same time last year.

Last week Western Australia (-8.7%) recorded the largest decline in ‘for sale’ searches, followed by Queensland (-4.2%). Search activity is likely to pick up in Queensland over the coming week following the easing of restrictions in the South-eastern part of the state.

South Australia, in contrast, saw buyer searches continue their recovery following July’s snap lockdown, with volumes up 4.7% over the week.

While ‘for lease’ searches increased in most states and territories last week, a sharp decline in Queensland drove a national fall of 1.8%. Though compared to 12 months ago, they remain 5.9% higher.

Lockdowns typically impact the commercial leasing market more than the buying market. This was the case in Queensland last week, with ‘for lease’ searches down by 11.9%.

As with the ‘for sale’ category, South Australia has seen ‘for lease’ searches continue to bounce back, recording 7.8% growth over the week.

The contrasting trends in search activity seen across the states are expected to remain a feature over the coming months due to changing COVID-19 restrictions.