This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
UNDERLYING demand for office space nationally has fallen sharply, according to BIS Shrapnel.
BIS Shrapnel’s latest research found demand slipped to just over 350,000sqm nationally as of May, reflecting employment weakness in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, with only Adelaide of the trio looking at potentially positive levels of net absorption in the short-term.
BIS Shrapnel senior project manager Maria Lee said underlying demand had dipped below BIS Shrapnel’s June 2016 estimate for net absorption Australia-wide, and was consistent with its expectations of a further easing in net absorption near-term.
“We had been flagging a reduction in underlying demand for some time. The ABS employment estimated – particularly for the key ‘property and business services’ sector – had seemed overly strong in the light of weaker National Accounts data on industry ‘Gross Value Added’,” she added.
Sydney had the strongest results, underpinned by “robust trend growth” particularly in the “property and business services” and “financial and insurance services” sectors.
Melbourne returned “solid” figures until the May quarter, showing a slump in underlying demand which BIS Shrapnel owed to data volatility, expecting it to be corrected next quarter.
Similarly, Canberra showed positive underlying demand after 18 months of negative results, which BIS Shrapnel tipped would be reflected in next quarter’s results.
Australian Property Journal
