From Resilience to Optimism
The Australian commercial real estate market enters 2026 with greater clarity, disciplined capital and structurally supported demand across key asset classes. While monetary policy remains measured, underlying property market trends point to a more stable and opportunity-driven environment for both investors and occupiers.
What’s Inside
Our Australia Outlook 2026 report examines the forces shaping commercial property investment, capital markets activity, leasing conditions and development feasibility across office, retail, industrial, living and data centres. As repricing stabilises and deployment strategies sharpen, asset selection, infrastructure readiness and income durability will define performance across the cycle.
A Strategic Resource for the Property Sector
Australia Outlook 2026 is designed for institutional investors, private capital, developers, asset managers and corporate occupiers seeking forward-looking insight into the commercial property market in Australia.
Grounded in Cushman & Wakefield’s national research, this report provides sector-specific analysis to inform investment strategy, portfolio allocation, leasing decisions and long-term occupier planning. For stakeholders navigating real estate investment in Australia, it delivers both macroeconomic context and actionable market intelligence.
Industry Outlook Key Takeaways
ECONOMY
Economic growth is expected to remain steady but constrained near 2%, as inflationary pressures, productivity challenges and cautious monetary settings shape the pace of recovery. Capital markets will remain selective, with disciplined underwriting defining deployment decisions.
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OFFICE
A sharp slowdown in new supply, alongside recovering occupier demand, will drive vacancy lower and support stronger effective rental growth through 2026–2028. As pricing clarity improves, investment activity is expected to strengthen.
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LOGISTICS & INDUSTRIAL
Constrained development pipelines and occupier consolidation into prime facilities are reinforcing rental growth across the industrial property market. Capital pools are deepening, though deployment decisions are increasingly filtered through asset quality, location and covenant strength.
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RETAIL
Neighbourhood, Super and Major Regional Centres remain best positioned to capture retail turnover growth, with modest cap rate compression forecast for select assets. Investor demand continues to favour defensible, convenience-led income streams.
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LIVING
Housing undersupply and migration-led population growth are expected to sustain rental growth and support increased institutional capital deployment across the Living sector. Income durability remains a core attraction for investors.
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DATA CENTRES
AI deployment, cloud adoption and enterprise digitisation continue to drive structural demand in Australia’s data centre market. Power availability, grid capacity and infrastructure readiness are now the primary differentiators influencing new supply and investment decisions.
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Position Your Strategy for 2026
As Australia’s commercial property cycle transitions into a more transparent phase, alignment with structural demand drivers and infrastructure-led constraints will be critical.
If you would value a tailored presentation on how these market trends may influence your investment portfolio, development strategy or occupier footprint, our capital markets, leasing and sector specialists would be pleased to provide a personalised briefing.
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