Western Australia’s commercial real estate market is entering 2025–26 with rising confidence, supported by a strong economy, tight supply, and active private and institutional capital.
“It’s been a big year for capital markets around the country. Volumes have started to tick up again,” said Ray White head of research Vanessa Rader (pictured left), calling WA “one of the most interesting markets to watch.”
Perth’s office sector is shifting from laggard to opportunity as sentiment turns and pricing recalibrates.
“Offices are the great countercyclical play,” said RWC WA head of capital transactions Brett Wilkins (pictured right), noting funds are offloading CBD offices and opening the door for opportunistic buyers.
Due diligence is longer and some recent large deals have fallen over on valuation and financing, but international appetite is building, particularly out of Singapore, as buyers seek to time the market.
Development feasibility is also putting a floor under rents. “The economic rents required for any new development are pushing up to $1,000 per square metre,” Wilkins said. “Office rents in Perth can only go one way.”
Both experts expect a genuine CBD revival, with Rader advising investors: “For 2026, keep an eye on the Perth office market.”
Retail has emerged as one of WA’s strongest performers, helped by virtually no new supply and stable consumer demand.
“Retail has come out as the darling of the property market lately,” Rader said, pointing to strong results for neighbourhood and convenience-based centres.
Wilkins cited the recent sale of Kinross Shopping Centre on a 6.2% yield with more than 125 enquiries, sold to a repeat Sydney private buyer, as evidence of aggressive eastern-states demand around the $5 million mark.
Industrial remains a core favourite despite softer rental growth, with owners largely refusing to sell.
“Industrial across the country has been the most exciting asset class,” Rader said, although vacancy has ticked up and the pace of rent growth has eased.
Land and construction constraints mean most landlords are holding. “Nobody wants to sell their industrial assets at the moment, and why would you?” Wilkins said, describing demand as still “super strong – not out of control like it was, but very strong.”
Owner‑occupiers in Perth are bidding hard to secure their futures, often outgunning east‑coast buyers, while a robust mining and critical minerals sector continues to underpin confidence.
Below $5 million, private capital and buyers’ agents dominate, especially from interstate.
“Buyers’ agents looking under around $5 million are super strong,” Wilkins said. “Not a day goes by when I don’t have a buyer’s agent asking me what I’ve got.”
WA is emerging as a serious data-centre contender on the back of land availability and growing infrastructure demand.
“Melbourne is the undisputed data-centre capital,” Rader said, “but WA could be coming up close with the amount of land available.”
Wilkins expects the sector to keep expanding but warns power access and security requirements, including strict government controls on ownership, make it a more complex play than traditional commercial.
Alternative assets are also highly active:
ESG pressures are intensifying across all of these uses.
“Environmental and sustainability issues are not going away. Brands are much more conscious about this,” Rader said.
Housing‑linked commercial assets are gaining serious traction as investors chase defensive income and exposure to Australia’s rental crisis.
PBSA is in focus ahead of the new Edith Cowan University CBD campus, with all major universities planning more student accommodation. Unit blocks are tightly held and often repositioned for strata or short‑stay use, which Wilkins described as “really lucrative; there’s a whole industry around it now.”
Wilkins expects continuity rather than disruption: “More of the same. The WA economy will be really strong. Minerals and the economy more generally are performing well.”
Construction capacity and costs remain the main handbrake on new office, industrial, and residential supply, but any projects that do proceed are likely to be highly pre‑leased and carefully underwritten.
ESG will increasingly drive capital access and pricing, sharpening the split between premium, highly rated assets, and secondary stock at risk of obsolescence.
Overall, Wilkins is upbeat: “There aren’t many areas I’m concerned about in the Perth market. 2026 will be a year of good activity. Due diligence periods will be longer, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s more considered.”
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