Commercial sales up
COMMERCIAL property sales continued to increase in the June quarter, according to the 2003 June quarter market update by Real Estate Institute of WA.
The commercial property market survey found that there were 562 sales of built commercial properties in Perth, an increase of 3.5 per cent on the previous quarter and 2.4 per cent up on sales in the same period of 2002.
The increase was recorded mostly in the market’s lower price ranges, which was reflected in the lower median price for commercial property sales for the June quarter, down 2.5 per cent to $253,300.
There were 228 industrial property sales in Perth in the June quarter, up 15 per cent on the previous quarter. Office sales were up 10 per cent on the quarter while retail property sales experienced a quarterly decrease of 13.2 per cent.
There were 92 sales in the City of Perth area, an increase of 2.2 per cent on the previous quarter.
REIWA commercial property agents’ chapter Steve Carulli said the increase in commercial sales was evidence of rising business confidence in Western Australia.
“The low interest rates and positive economic indicators in WA are being reflected in the commercial property sales market,” he said.
“More individuals, along with corporate interests, are considering commercial property as an investment option.”
Mr Carulli said there was a rush to secure commercial property sales in the June quarter to beat the stamp duty in July.
“We are concerned about the impact of the stamp duty hike because up until June the commercial property market was rallying strongly,” he said.