Commercial Property Johannesburg sees high vacancy levels as continuing to plague South Africa’s office rental market, with seemingly no short term fix in sight. Not what should be the goal, but desperate times are calling for some sort of measure.
Office rentals in Sandton seem to be continually shrinking, the last place one would expect. It is the country’s, and Africa’s, financial hub. The commerce capital of the continent is not used to this sort of setback.
Rentals for grade-A multi-tenanted office property in Sandton are beginning to see single digit decline in occupancy. whilst committed new office developments continue to grow. The figures in this category, have now moved passed the highs of 2006-2008. A period in which economic growth was robust, & vacancy rates on the decline.
Major office space in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, have seen similar poor to modest growth rates. The result, Johannesburg, as a whole, is showing poor growth. Pretoria and Durban have faired slightly better, with Cape Town leading the pack.
The question remains, in these subdued times, how does the an owner survive and fill those vacant spaces? Whether it be retail, office or industrial, a new strong trend emerging, is the commercial property aggregator. These dedicated commercial property websites, allow consumers to find exactly what they need, and where they need it. All very fast, and very conveniently. If embraced by agents, property funds, and private owners, they tend to provide a short and long term solution to the dilemma. They are specifically designed to attract business owners looking for the perfect space to rent. Emerging from South Africa, the aggregator leading the way, is called Storage Panda.
Stay tuned to Commercial Property Johannesburg, for more data and news on the commercial property sector in Johannesburg.