THE Perth property market will continue to improve until 2002 on the back of improved outlooks for the resource and export sectors according to a report by Westpac.
The report, Outlook for Australian Property Markets 2000-03 forecasts office vacancies will decline to 10 per cent over the next four years, assuming the Woodside building is completed.
Space is still freely available and rental growth is expected to average a moderate 6 per cent per annum over the period, the report says.
Industrial property will also be driven by the resource sector and by institutional purchasers which, when combined with a lack of stock, will continue to drive yields down.
Office sector rental growth is forecast to be below that in Sydney, Victoria and Brisbane, although better than Adelaide, the report indicates.
Victorian office rents are forecast to grow by 12 per cent in 2000, 8 per cent in 2001, 10 per cent in 2002 and 12 per cent in 2003 – the strongest growth in the country and double Perth’s growth forecast.
However, Victorian industrial rents will average only 1 per cent growth per annum during the next four years compared with Perth’s 2 per cent growth.
Valuation firm Herron Todd White, in its March review of the Perth property market, reports strong demand for quality accommodation with prime office space within Exchange Plaza, Central Park, QV1 and BankWest Tower falling from 3.4 per cent in January 2000.
“With approximately 97,000 square metres of A and B grade space available, the majority of leasing activity will continue at this level of accommodation,” Herron Todd White’s Garrick Smith reports.
