The Perth Office Market: A Strong Recovery Amidst Pandemic Challenges

The Perth office market has been continuing its recovery, both from the previous market downturn and the recent impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. One key indicator that highlights the contrasting performance of Australian CBD office markets during and after the pandemic is public transport patronage, specifically train and bus usage.

Although passenger traffic across most Australian cities had plummeted due to uncertainty and panic, along with National Cabinet decisions during March and April 2020, the different state government approaches to pandemic management resulted in a noticeable difference in recovery after the initial period. In Perth, passenger traffic recovered faster and remained relatively stable in terms of volume.

Compared to February 2020, just prior to the pandemic response in Australia, train and bus passenger patronage in Perth is currently 6.9% higher. On the other hand, Sydney’s passenger data suggests that the city has not yet fully recovered, and patronage is still 14.5% below the February 2020 numbers.

These statistics further support the notion that the Perth office market occupancy has recovered faster and overall performed notably better than most other Australian capital cities in the past two years.

Perth’s stronger traffic and office occupancy has also meant Perth CBD retailers have also benefited from more stable consumer spending.