The report shows Brisbane’s CBD office market vacancy fell to 6.1 percent in Q1, due primarily to the resources boom.
“Typically, it takes time for economic activity to translate into the confidence for business services firms to expand employment and generate office demand. However, it is clear that it is resources sector investment activity that will drive Queensland’s economic rebound and these projects require significant upfront white collar employment due to quite extensive engineering requirements on both the projects themselves, and supporting infrastructure,” says Jones Lang LaSalle research director Leigh Warner.
“For other property sectors, the benefits will be more indirect, and will start to flow through as the strength of Queensland’s economy broadens,” Warner says.
“The employment generation out of the resources sector has already been significant, but has been offset by labour shedding in other sectors. Significant further growth is expected to occur as more projects move into a construction phase. This will turn around net interstate migration to the state, which has slowed to its lowest level in decades over the past few years.”
The report, Is Brisbane’s office market a leading indicator for the rest of the property market?, says population inflow will boost retail spending and the housing construction market.
Warner says Queensland can expect broader-based economic strength by 2013.
The Queensland Resources Council has identified $165 billion dollars of projects, over $300 million, in Queensland that are due for completion by 2020.
JLL says Queensland mining investment peaked at $12.5 billion in 2011/12 and has averaged $5.7 billion per annum over the past decade.
