$2.2 BILLION SPREE BUOYS BRISBANE OFFICE MARKET

Nick Nichols - Business News Australia - 18 July 2018

The Brisbane office market, which has been slow to bounce back since the end of the mining boom in 2012, has finally swung into recovery mode following a $2.2 billion spree by investors, according to Savills Research.

The upbeat assessment comes a month after BIS Oxford Economics urged caution against expectations that the worst was over, arguing that the office market remained in oversupply and that despite new lease deals being struck, absorption rates were minimal.

However, the latest Savills Research Q2-18 Office Quarter Time report sees the office building investment figures over FY18 as clear evidence that green shoots are finally emerging in the Brisbane market.

It says the sales have defied expectations of a softening over the past year with the fringe market posting close to $1 billion in sales. This compares with $796 million in sales a year ago.

"Sales in Brisbane's fringe office markets were driven by interest from both foreign and domestic private investors driving up demand for assets in the $10 million to $50 million range, whilst domestic institutional investors were driving up demand for larger, more prized prime grade assets," says Peter Chapple, Savills' state director of capital transaction in Queensland. Read more