[Published November 2010 and last updated June 2026] High-quality office space in the
Western Australian city of Perth is being snapped up by tenants from a variety of industry sectors, according to reports.
A recently agreed deal saw Chevron Australia take up roughly 130,000 square feet of office space in Perth’s central business district, and experts have since noted a relative lack of available real estate across the city.
But this relative dearth of Grade A office space in Perth is being seen as positive news for the city and, in particular, for the commercial property sector, as major occupiers continue to look to expand their operations and presence in Western Australia.
Graham Postma from Savills’ local office told the Sunday Times in Perth: “We are already experiencing a significant reduction in the availability of larger contiguous tenancies, particularly at the western end of the central business district.
“One of the most positive aspects of the recent deals is that many are as a result of tenant expansion and not just ‘musical chairs’ and are therefore resulting in strong positive absorption and reduction in overall vacancy.”
Perth is the fourth largest city in Australia and has a population of over 1.5 million people. It was rated by The Economist as one of the ‘most liveable cities’ in the world earlier this year.
Meanwhile, a leading figure at the UBS Investment Banking group told the Australian newspaper recently that his organisation is “very excited” about the economic prospects for Perth and the surrounding region.
Editor’s notes: In 2023, Chevron, which is one of the World’s largest energy companies, listed One The Esplanade as its Perth office address.
Data
released in 2023 demonstrated that net positive absorption of office space from lettings deals totalled 6,000 square metres in the second half of 2022, bringing the total take-up over the two years to 87,000 square metres.
This pushed the overall vacancy rate down to 15.6 per cent and the vacancy rate for premium-grade office space down to 6.6 per cent.
2023 would see an additional 79,000 square metres brought to market, the highest annual addition since 2015.
The limited supply of office space in the pipeline beyond 2023 was expected to lead to a steady decline in vacancy rates over the next few years, with upward pressure on rental rates.
In February 2023, prime office rent in Perth’s CBD stood at AUD 651 per square metre per annum, and the rental rate for secondary quality space stood at AUD 415 per square metre.
In May 2026, JLL reported that the headline office vacancy rate in the Perth CBD decreased to 16.3 per cent in Q1 2026. Similarly, the prime grade A vacancy rate fell to 14.7 per cent.
There were no projects under construction in the Perth CBD pipeline, and new office stock additions were expected to remain low in the short to medium-term.
The average prime net face rents stood at AUD 674 per square metre per annum in Q1 2026, reflecting a growth of 1.6 per cent compared to Q1 2025.
