PERTH’S industrial market continues to gain pace as more investors, developers and owner-occupiers compete for listings. Record land sales are being reported in established industrial areas of Malaga, Welshpool and Kewdale, with industrial agents predicting a quick succession of records to come this year. The northern industrial hub of Malaga, off Reid Highway, is believed to have achieved a record $513/square metre (excluding GST) last month. The land, including lots 310-313 Millrose Drive, ranged in size from 1,001sq m to 1,342sq m and sold for between $470-$513/sq m via an ‘offers to purchase’ campaign. Burgess Rawson director Chad Henville said the corner block, lot 313, achieved the highest price and represented a 35 per cent price hike on land in the area in just two months. “The pent-up demand for industrial land explains the dramatic increase in prices,” he said. “The land was purchased by owner-occupiers, developers, and investors and when these three buyer groups are active at the same time, you know the market is very strong. We had close to 150 phone calls from the marketing campaign, which is triple the response one would normally expect from a campaign like this.” Mr Henville said Burgess Rawson was talking with a number of vendors in the Malaga area eager to take advantage of rising values. Savills divisional director industrial Max Jones said the core Perth markets of Welshpool and Kewdale were also very strong, with deals on rare land parcels as high as $500/sq m. He said both areas were in high demand and predicted land could sell for up to $600/sq m by the end of the year. “An engineering company in Welshpool has just sold 1.3 hectares of land with a 5,500 square metre workshop on it for $8.1 million on a short-term lease back. This is way above the $6 million to $7 million expected for it and typical of what is happening in that part of Perth,” he said. Mr Jones said the agency was accepting expressions of interest on two large parcels of land at 521-523 Abernethy Road, Kewdale and the level of inquiry over the past few weeks had exceeded expectations.