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Retail property market ‘narrows the gap’ during Q4 2024

Property brokers perceived the industrial and retail property markets to be undersupplied during Q4 2024 while the office market remained significantly oversupplied, according to FNB Commercial Property Finance.

They pointed to occupied industrial assets selling the fastest – 13.5 weeks as opposed to 16.35 weeks for retail and 22.1 weeks for office assets. Vacant industrial properties also averaged the shortest time on the market (13.84 weeks) compared to 17.15 weeks for retail and 22.32 weeks for office. The average time on the market for all three asset classes, on an aggregated basis, declined.

While the industrial property market remains the strongest of all three asset classes, with its perceived demand being stronger than supply since 2022, the retail property market has ‘narrowed the gap’, says John Loos, Property Strategist at FNB Commercial Property Finance. The office market remains the weakest, albeit having lessened in oversupply in recent years.