Christchurch Figures Q1 2024

Key Points:

• In Q1 2024, the market lacked the more pronounced yield softening trend that characterised previous quarters. Only Secondary CBD office yields registered some yield expansion. It seems that the peak of the current yield cycle is near.
• All sectors benefited from rental growth during Q1. The suburban office market registered the highest increase, followed by the Prime submarkets for CBD retail, CBD office and industrial.
• Christchurch continues to stand out as a healthy occupier market. One clear signal of this is the drop in vacancy across all tracked markets during H2 2023 (CBD office, suburban office and industrial) due to positive net absorption.
• Industrial vacancy continues to be extremely low, sitting at 0.6%, down from 0.8% in H1. This market is benefiting from good rental growth, especially in the Prime submarket although the rate of growth has slowed in recent quarters.
• In terms of new stock during H2 2023, the industrial market registered circa 32,300 sqm of new stock, with Hornby the main beneficiary.
• Christchurch retail spend increased by 3.6% in 2023. The Central City experienced spending growth of 8.3%, with the Four Avenues Core area increasing by 12.5%.