May 24 REA Insights Weekly Commercial Search Report, 2021

Searches to buy and lease commercial property slowed over the past week, though remain well above last year’s levels

‘For sale’ searches on realcommercial.com.au decreased by 1% over the last week, with declines seen in most states. However, compared to a year ago, searches are 30.7% higher.

The weekly decline in ‘for sale’ searches was driven by the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, which recorded respective declines of 9.6% and 2.7%. Searches were also lower in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

Western Australia, in contrast, saw a 1.5% increase in ‘for sale’ searches, while Queensland and the Northern Territory each recorded a 0.5% rise.

‘For lease’ searches on realcommercial.com.au were also down, falling by 0.9% over the week. They remain 11.9% higher than last year’s levels.

Movement was mixed across the states, half of which saw lease searches up over the week. The strongest weekly growth was seen in the Australian Capital Territory (4.6%) and Tasmania (4.3%), with the largest falls in the Northern Territory (-10.2%) and South Australia (-3.3%).

Comparing year-on-year, ‘for lease’ searches are up in every state with the exception of the Northern Territory (-3%), with the largest rises recorded in Tasmania (20.7%) and South Australia (13.2%).

While it is to be expected that search volumes will be above the levels seen 12 months ago, when buying and leasing decisions were impacted by COVID-19, the fact that volumes are well above the levels seen in 2018 and 2019 hints at strengthening confidence in the sector.

The recovery of Australia’s economy is continuing to outpace expectations and business confidence is rising. This should help support further growth in commercial search activity over the remainder of the year.