Sydney: Macquarie Bank today presented the findings of their Commercial Real Estate Benchmarking Survey for 2012 to a group of select clients and media. Comparing the results to the last benchmarking survey completed two years ago in 2010, Wayne Tower, National Head of Commercial Real Estate said that “commercial agents are still reasonably positive with respect to outlook and growth of their businesses, even though commercial investors are still appearing cautious.”
According to the data presented, leasing and property management are now the cornerstone of successful commercial real estate businesses. Commercial sales figures have declined, and Tower noted various reasons for this, including an increase in average days on market and lower average property values; in some cases investors are still finding it hard to obtain finance.
Not surprising the area that appears to have fared the worst in terms of declining performance is retail sales and leasing. Tower also noted probably the biggest change since 2010 is that 20% of commercial agents did not have a property management department; now that figure has dropped to just 3%, meaning that the industry has become much more competitive. This was supported by other benchmarking figures presented; the number of managements per property manager has significantly increased as the effects of the GFC continue to be felt in the sector and businesses continue to “do more with less”.
In terms of outlook, most respondents to the benchmarking survey felt that a continued focus on maintaining team culture and retaining key staff would bring the most positive impact on their businesses.
The full survey report will be out in the next few weeks. For more information in the mean time, please visit www.macquarie.com.au/commercialrealestate.