Auckland office space crunch easing

Auckland office space crunch easing

Auckland, August 4, 2017

Auckland’s office space crunch is showing signs of easing, new figures from Colliers International show. The firm’s latest monthly New Zealand Research Report, released today, shows the Auckland CBD office vacancy rate increased to 3.6 per cent in June 2017, up from 1.9 per cent a year earlier.

Colliers International Research Manager Leo Lee says businesses seeking prime office space have had very few options since 2014.

“Now they have a little relief. Outside of the CBD a few new projects underway will also help to relieve the pressure.”

Wellington’s office vacancy rate remains unchanged overall, at 7.8 per cent in June 2017 compared with six months ago.

Virtually no prime stock is available, with only 0.1 per cent vacant, as a consequence of buildings being removed from the total stock due to seismic damage.

Lee says Colliers International’s analysis shows the office sector is the major standout among commercial property sales of $5 million or more.

“Provisional data for the June 2017 year shows more office sales recorded than any other sector, most of which took place in Auckland,” he says.

Lee says industrial property sales have eased somewhat, despite positive investment conditions over the past 12 months.

Provisional data for the June 2017 year shows an aggregate of $869 million of industrial property sales across New Zealand, down from the previous year’s peak of more than $1.3 billion.

“This is due to a lack of stock currently available for sale rather than a shift in investor sentiment,” Lee says.

ENDS

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