Sydney and Melbourne lead surge in office demand

The council's latest Office Market Report revealed that the national average office vacancy rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 10.4 per cent during the six months to July 2015, while the results were mixed across the capital cities.

Sydney’s average office vacancy rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points to 6.3 per cent, while Melbourne fell one point to 8.1 per cent, and Brisbane fell by 0.5 points to 15 per cent.

Canberra’s vacancy rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 15.3 per cent, while Adelaide remained flat at 13.5 per cent, and Perth increased by 1.8 points to 16.6 per cent.

Property Council of Australia CEO Ken Morrison said the strong demand was a positive sign that the economic transition governments are looking for is actually underway.

“Surging demand for office space in Sydney and Melbourne is one of the strongest signals yet that Australia’s transition from a mining investment-dominated economy is taking hold,” he said.

“Office demand in the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs is double the historical average, driving office vacancies down and demonstrating that the non-mining service sector is growing.”

In another healthy sign for the commercial market, office vacancy rates fell in 17 of the 23 markets measured by the report.