Foreigners dominate NZ market
CBRE’s latest analysis of commercial property deals showed a sharp dip in office sales in the first half of 2017 and more activity by overseas investors.
Zoltan Moricz, senior director of research for CBRE, said he was aware of a number of high-priced deals in the offing.
He expected the second half of the year to be robust, possibly reversing the trend.
The other trend that became apparent was the dominance of overseas players compared with locals. Overseas investors bought $394 million of property market and sold $228m worth, out of total sales valued at $1.2 billion.
The most active foreign investors were from Australia, China, Singapore and the United States.
Australian investors far outstripped other nationalities, with $210m of property purchased and $204m sold.
Private investors were most prominent, with institutions coming in second. Syndicates were less active in the market.
Developers had bought 14 vacant blocks worth $257m, or 20 per cent of the total.
The biggest deal for the period was Westfield WestCity in Auckland, sold by Scentre Group to Angaet Group for $153m. Angaet subsequently renamed the shopping centre WestCity Waitakere.
Retail sales made up $371m or 30 per cent of the total volume.
Deals in Auckland made up $1b or 80 per cent of the total transactions. Five were above $50m.
Eighteen office building sales were worth $328m, or 26 per cent, while industrial sales came to $224m, or 18 per cent, of the total volume sold.
In Wellington the biggest sale out of 10 recorded was Transpower House at 96 The Terrace for $25m.
Christchurch had 11 sales totalling $156m. The largest of these was the PwC building at 60 Cashel St, which sold for $49m.
The lower-end deals (between $5m and $10m) accounted for 46 per cent of all transactions.