Sales of industrial property have taken off in the first quarter of 2022, Herron Todd White has revealed in its latest report.
The property valuation firm released its Month in Review for April 2022, which covers property market results from January to March.
Herron Todd White uses an industrial property clock to display market conditions. The peak of the market sits at 12 o’clock, a declining market sits at three o’clock, bottom of market at six o’clock and rising market at 9 o’clock.
The results show Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Ipswich at the peak of the market, areas such as Alice Springs, Darwin, Orange, and Central Coast sitting at a declining market, and areas such as Byron Bay, Lismore, Melbourne, and Townsville in a rising market. No areas were sitting at the bottom of market.
Herron Todd White commercial director David Walsh (pictured) said the industrial property sector had been a superstar across the nation since mid-2020.
“Supply line issues throughout the pandemic saw strong performance in cold storage, temperature-controlled facilities and storage assets,” Walsh said.
“With online shopping growing over the past 18 months to record highs, these types of assets will be of significant utility as e-commerce continues to be the consumers’ first choice for shopping.”
But Walsh did question whether the momentum could be sustained.
“While the industrial property sector might feel like an unstoppable force at present, history tells us that no market can continue to rise indefinitely,” he said. “Market forces will eventually come into play.”
Walsh suggested factors such as the Ukraine conflict and future interest rate rises might affect the industrial property market.
“I also think some types of industrial property will perform far better than others. The market – both for rentals and investment – will simply be more discerning in 2022,” he said.
The report said there was no sign of the market slowing down from what it had observed, and predictions were that the industrial market would remain strong over the remainder of the year.
Herron Todd White NSW director Scott Russell said the industrial market was continuing its current upward trajectory which started to gain pace in 2018.
“Demand across the board remains strong, supply is limited and despite the uncertain global environment and likelihood of an interest rate rise in the second half of the year, conditions are ripe for ongoing strong performance in this sector, ” Russell said.
The market boomed in 2021 with e-commerce accelerating due to the pandemic and an increased requirement for warehouse space to diminish disruptions to the supply chain.
Herron Todd White confirmed a record level of new development, particularly in Melbourne’s west contributed to the consistent rise in industrial land values.
The rise in industrial land values across south-east Queensland underpinned by the strong investment sentiment and limited availability of land, made for an extremely buoyant commercial property market said Herron Todd White.
The industrial market gained solid traction in 2021 on the back of the continued improvement to mining, manufacturing, intermodal transport and logistics and warehousing sectors.
“Industrial sales at the end of 2021 exceeded the total number in 2020 averaging almost 25 sales per quarter,” said Herron Todd White Queensland director Jason Searston.
Herron Todd White South Australia director Chris Winter said the market finished in good shape in 2021 and was likely to continue throughout 2022.
“Current market activity levels are high, there are a lot of listings hitting the market. Competition for industrial zoned land is still high as the surplus of land that existed a few years ago is being consumed and developed,” Winter said.
Leasing demand for industrial premises had strengthened, especially for newly built high specification facilities, with such properties in limited supply.
Herron Todd White Western Australia director Greg Lamborn said demand for older style stock was also “likely to show signs of life again with a slow but steady take-up of space which previously sat vacant for a prolonged period”.
Herron Todd White Northern Territory director Terry Roth said the trends in other cities have not yet emerged in Darwin, with no indication of any improvement over the next 12 months.
“It would appear the Darwin industrial property market will only improve when a major infrastructure project takes place to create more demand for space,” Roth said. ‘There are a number of projects on the horizon, mainly involving defence projects, mining and oil and gas projects.”
