Ray White Commercial WA has released its fifth annual The Insight: Perth retail strips research report for September 2022.

According to the Brett Wilkins, Director of Capital Markets Ray White Commercial (WA), the Perth retail strip market has enjoyed improvement in overall occupancy across the five strips surveyed. 

Despite some individual volatility in the retail survey results, the overall total average vacancy rate has continued to decline for the second year. Across all five surveyed locations, vacancy was found at 9.63%, improving from last year’s survey results of 10.82% which is down from the difficult 2020 and 2019 period where lockdowns resulted in a sharp increase in vacancies to 12.09% and 11.24% respectively.

Notwithstanding some movement in the make up of Perth retail strips in response to changing consumer behaviours, some local markets have bucked the national trends with both Bay View Terrace and Napoleon Street indicative of “fashion strips” which are limited across the country.

Bay View Terrace has seen no change in occupancy levels compared to last year, while the Leederville strip has continued to grow its vacancy and Napoleon Street has recorded its highest vacancy since 2017. Beaufort Street, the largest strip in the retail count, has continued to improve, while some take up of space in the Subiaco market over the last twelve months, has allowed it to record its lowest rate since 2017.

Interest rate rises saw some moderation in overall investment this year, which was dominated by local private investors and owner occupiers and a considerable drop in the volume of transactions. However, savvy buyers continue to capitalise on opportunities across retail, particularly in these strips which have a proven track record of high occupancy. 

Rising inflation continues to be a concern for consumers which has filtered into the retail market, the longevity of interest rate movements and inflationary pressures being key indicators of continued success of our retail strips over the next 12 months.

Find the report here: The Insight: Perth retail strips September 2022.