Following on from my earlier post on Perth’s skyrocketing office vacancies, realcommercial.com.au has reported increasing industrial vacancies along the East Coast, driven by weakness in Melbourne and Brisbane:
There are 1.84 million sqm of vacant industrial space across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – 28% more than a year ago…
The Knight Frank figures show Melbourne has its highest vacancy rates in three years, with 626,848 sqm of industrial space vacant as of January 2014.
In Brisbane there are 551,433 sqm vacant, the largest amount since at least 2007.
Knight Frank Head of Research and Consulting Matt Whitby says Sydney is the only market to record a fall in vacancy rates…
Across the three cities, there is 204,262 sqm of speculative stock, both completed and being built, which is 20 per cent higher than a year prior.
The sharp rise of so-called “speculative stock”, combined with low jobs growth, suggests East Coast industrial vacancies could rise further in the year ahead.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
