Office Occupancy Rates In 3 Aussie CBDs Doubled

AUSTRALIA – The latest data from the Property Council of Australia showed that office occupancy levels in Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne have risen by around two-fold between February and March 2022, reported Business News Australia on Thursday morning (7 April, SGT).

Canberra led the growth as office occupancy surged from 21 percent in February to 45 percent in March, representing the highest growth of any capital city in Australia.

In Sydney, the country’s most populous capital city, office occupancy jumped 23 percentage points to 41 percent. As for Melbourne, while it saw the lowest occupancy level of any Australian city of 32 percent in March, it’s a far cry from the 15 percent during the preceding month.

Although the huge increase in office vacancy in many cities was coming off Omicron-induced lows, Property Council of Australia’s CEO Ken Morrison pointed out that the latest statistics were encouraging.

“It’s heartening that people are returning to the office in such numbers, particularly given considerable weather events on the east coast and the continuing isolation impacts of the pandemic.”

“To see office occupancy rates double in some of our major CBDs is especially pleasing and bodes well for further recovery in the months ahead.”

Meanwhile, Adelaide – which recorded the highest office occupancy rate of 61 percent – registered a modest growth of 14 percentage points in March. It is also one two Australian cities just shy of hitting occupancy levels from the same time last year (69 percent) alongside Melbourne (39 percent).

As for Brisbane, office occupancy rates edged up by 7 percentage points month-on-month to 48 percent. Still, this is a significant gain since the figure fell sharply to 13 percent in January 2022.

On the other hand, Perth is the only capital city, where office occupancy dropped. The figure there fell to 45 percent, the lowest occupancy level since July 2020, as Western Australia (WA) just entered its peak Omicron period.