‘It’s a terrific time to be investing in commercial property’: Ray White
Ray White Commercial’s head of agency operations, Andrew Freeman, has shared how the commercial market is playing out for keen investors.
According to Mr Freeman, while the last month has been “shrouded in doom and gloom predictions”, Ray White Commercial recorded sales of over $70 million via auction campaigns.
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“Despite the numerous negative perceptions, our Australian and NZ Commercial teams came together as one in a time of real adversity and produced some exceptional results for our clients,” Mr Freeman said.
“Being family-owned and led for 118 years instills in you the genuine values you can really call on when there’s adversity in the marketplace, and those values ensure we stay on the right track.”
Mr Freeman added: “This is actually a terrific time to be investing in commercial property if you’re in a position to do so.”
“With interest rates at an all-time low – money has never been so cheap for buyers.
“Money in the bank is offering no real return right now, so savvy investors are looking to commercial property to increase their return on investment,” Mr Freeman added.
The areas commercial buyers are hungry for
One of the notable sales Ray White Commercial has spearheaded over the last month include a commercial warehouse in Summer Hill, which sold for $1,655,000.
“This really was a terrific auction with five of the nine registered bidders competing to smash the reserve price for a vendor who was rightly delighted,” said Ray White Commercial Sydney City Fringe principal Kristian Morris.
“The key to this new world of auctions working is communication, and lots of it. We took the time to take the vendor through the process so they felt comfortable throughout.
“Good properties in good locations with good fundamentals will always perform well, irrespective of what’s going on in the market at the time.
“The property itself was a good-looking character-filled creative warehouse with very strong links to three transport options – light rail, buses and the train station.”
Meanwhile, the group’s biggest online auction sale over the weekend was a commercial asset in Northbridge, Western Australia, that sold for $2,200,000.
Ray White Commercial (WA) director Stephen Harrison and Ray White City Residential (Perth) principal Brent Compton had three registered and active bidders competing.
“The auction was originally booked for Saturday, 4 April, but we decided to bring it forward a week, given the new restrictions that have been put in place,” Mr Harrison said.
“Then on Thursday, we were forced to move the auction online and we worked tirelessly to ensure all of the interested parties were registered to bid, and we ended up with three competitors.
“We find the private auction process really easy. It’s as simple as the bidders clicking on the link and they have video and audio right there, and they were able to bid via the phone.”