Perth commercial property faces retail slowdown

Consulting firm Urbis has released its annual report into the state of the retail industry in ...

Consulting firm Urbis has released its annual report into the state of the retail industry in Western Australia.

Based on the market turnover for the financial year ending June 30 2011, the research shows a number of interesting features that could impact on commercial property over the medium term.

The report recognises that retail growth has slowed over the last few years, with year-end measurements of 2.6 per cent in 2011 compared to 3.7 per cent in 2010 and seven per cent in 2007 Australia wide.

However, a number of industry sectors in WA have proved to be remarkably resilient, being only one of two states to outperform the national average with a growth rate of four per cent.

In particular, the convenience sector showed remarkable growth when compared to the discretionary spending market across both regional and sub-regional areas - perhaps showing that consumers still place value in having their shopping needs met sooner rather than later.

While some of the more boutique fresh produce categories were shown to struggle a little in the face of this pattern, food and beverage retail businesses stood out from the pack across all regional and neighbourhood measures.

This shows that - while discretionary and boutique spending may be down in the short term, there is still room in the retail market for businesses that offer customers convenient alternatives.