Australia’s most sought-after office suburbs revealed

It comes as no shock that Australia’s CBDs are its most in-demand office locales, but outside of the city centres our most searched-for office hotspots might surprise you.

Melbourne and Sydney’s central business districts dominate realcommercial.com.au’s office search rankings, but when it comes to in-demand suburbs outside the heart of the cities, there are some unexpected results.

REA Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee says the latest figures support the notion that Australia’s commercial property market is currently two-paced, with Sydney and Melbourne generating more than triple the number of searches of any other location.

“Right now it’s Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD are the most searched-for office locations by tenants … on our realcommercial website,” Conisbee says.

Melbourne’s CBD remains Victoria’s most sought-after office location.

“That is also consistent with the data we’re seeing around vacancy rates. Those cities are both seeing quite rapid declines in vacancy rates.”

But there is cause for optimism in markets widely reported as being in decline.

Office vacancy rates of more than 24% and dwindling rents aren’t deterring potential office buyers in Perth, with two inner-city suburbs ranking among the top 15 locations in Australia for realcommercial.com.au property searches.

Perth CBD neighbour West Perth attracts the most searches of any non-CBD suburb in Australia, while nearby Subiaco is also attracting considerable interest, ranking 15th in our most recent property search data.

Watch REA chief economist Nerida Conisbee’s full interview in the video below:

Outside of the CBDs, popular inner-city residential areas are also in hot demand among office seekers.

“If we look beyond the CBD in Sydney the top locations are North Sydney and Surry Hills. Both of them quite close to the CBD but providing slightly different amenity in those areas,” Conisbee says.

“In Melbourne the top non-CBD location is here in Richmond. Richmond remains one of the really top locations for tenants looking for space.”

Your state’s most searched-for office locations

NEW SOUTH WALES

Surry Hills, North Sydney, Parramatta

VICTORIA

Richmond, South Melbourne, South Yarra

QUEENSLAND

Southport, Fortitude Valley, Milton

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

West Perth, Subiaco, Osborne Park

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

North Adelaide