Sydney’s apartment boom is changing the face of commercial real estate according to leading auctioneer Damien Cooley.
“The residential boom is forcing businesses away from south Sydney and other areas and they’re being pushed west. So many industrial areas have been rezoned to residential,” Damien says
As a result, business owners and commercial investors have had to hunt for properties further afield, therefore pushing demand and prices up in the city’s middle and outer rings.
“Commercial property auctions have been very successful this last quarter. Clearance rates are good, results are strong and buyers are confident. Industrial auctions are flying,” he says
The latest Cooley Index for the commercial sector show that the volume of auctions is significantly higher than during the same time last year. For the April to June quarter the Cooley team auctioned 92 commercial properties to a total value of $155 million compared with the 60 properties that went under the hammer in the second quarter of 2016 to the sum of $85 million. Even the first quarter of the calendar year showed a year on year improvement in volume of commercial properties from 35 in 2016 to 45 properties this year.
Above reserve sales were also impressive over the April to June period. During the past quarter 73 per cent of commercial properties sold by our team were snapped up above their set reserve price by an average of $175,000. The corresponding quarter for 2016 saw 69 per cent of properties sell over reserve by an average of $199,000.
Damien Cooley auctioned an industrial site at 4 Allen Pl, Wetherill Park which sold for $2.18 million. The LJ Hooker Commercial Silverwater property had 10 bidders vying for the site, pushing the final amount to $230,000 over the set reserve.
Another stand out auction for the month was an industrial warehouse property at 59 Vore St, Silverwater which fetched $1.31 million over the reserve price. Listed through JLL Parramatta, the 2380sqm block had eight competitive bidders push the final price to $5.01 million.