Christchurch Figures Q3 2024

Key Points:

• During Q3, the Christchurch CBD office market continued to benefit from robust demand for good-quality assets, especially in the Core and West End precincts. Also, some areas of the suburban office market benefited from increasing demand and an uplift in face rents.
• The retail market continued to benefit from increasing face rents during Q3, driven by low vacancies in desirable locations on Cashel Street and High Street. Additionally, the industrial market registered an uplift in both Prime and Secondary face rents due to the construction of new buildings and the lack of good-quality stock.
• The market is expected to become gradually more active after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand shifted from a monetary tightening to a monetary easing policy, reducing the OCR by 75 basis points over the last two Monetary Policy Committee meetings.
• Industrial vacancy began to rise in H1 2024 across all submarkets, following a period of extremely low levels over the past year and a half. In H1, the industrial market was tainted by the downsizing of industrial footprints by several tenants because of diminished demand and consolidation.