Vibrant CBD retail sector outperforms floundering office towers

Prime CBD retail precincts, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, are proving remarkably resilient to sky-high office vacancy rates as they benefit from robust tourism, the growing number of international brands, hospitality offerings and a calendar of events, new Ray White research shows.

In Sydney, the vacancy rate in the city’s retail core – the area bounded by Martin Place, Pitt Street, Park Street and George Street and including Pitt Street Mall – sits at just 5.4 per cent (as counted by Ray White head of research, Vanessa Rader) while the overall Sydney CBD office vacancy rate is more than double that at 11.6 per cent, based on the latest Property Council Report.