Chatswood office vacancy rate at lowest in five years

Chatswood's office vacancy rates has fallen to its lowest level in over five years, according to the Property Council of Australia's (PCA) latest Office Market Report.

The vacancy rate in Chatswood fell nearly 5 percentage points in the six months to January, as it tightened from 13.7% to 8.9%. This was as a result of net absorption of 13,662 square metres in the period.

The declining Chatswood vacancy rate helped push the overall vacancy rate on the North Shore down from 9.4% to 9% in the six months to January 2013 -  its lowest level since July 2007. 

“Strong demand in Chatswood has helped fuel the cut in vacancy rates across the North Shore,” says Property Council NSW, executive director, Glenn Byres. 

Vacancies rose in the two other key North Shore markets.

In North Sydney they rose from 7.4% to 7.8% and in Crows Nest / St Leonards they increased from 10.7% to 12%.

Supply levels in Crows Nest / St Leonards increased with the addition of 16,320 square metres of office space in the period.

“New supply totalling 17,694 square metres hit the market in the past six months, 2,323 square metres of stock was withdrawn – and net absorption increased by 18,995 square metres.

"There is only 350 square metres of stock is due to enter the North Shore market in 2013, followed by a further 4,400 square metres of new stock in 2014," Byres says.