It is very easy to take things for granted and make assumptions in business.

Even successful and smart business leaders can make the wrong assumptions about basic costs. I think sometimes the mind can play tricks on us too, and we can browse a set of accounts or a written article and miss some details that we either think are irrelevant or that we don’t want to know about.

I sometimes speculate that there is a good deal of emotion attached to figures related to mortgages and rent. We often (more…)

Over the past few years I’ve written a number of times about the Australian influence on the New Zealand property market. First it was, “The Aussies are coming”. Then it was, “The Aussies are here”. And most recently, “The Aussies are here and they are us”.

And today, with the oversupply of commercial rental office space and residential high rise space, they are struggling for good returns the same as everyone else.

Let me give you a snapshot…   (more…)

Research is showing that the high vacancy levels in commercial lease property in New Zealand is a trend that looks set to stay for the next couple of years.

Low interest rates, inflation and slow recovery from the global economic crisis will have an ongoing ripple effect on commercial property.

In the short term, this is leading to an increase in trends such as “shadow space” where a business (more…)

The commercial rental property market in New Zealand continues to be very much a tenant’s market… but there are many landlords who simply don’t get it.

Negotiating myopia
It amazes me in the many negotiations I conduct for clients how many landlords take such a short-term view and, by playing hard ball, lose out on securing long-term tenants. (more…)

Just a couple of years ago, the headline above would have made absolutely no sense to anyone. In fact even today, a great number of people would still think it is gobbledegook. But the world is moving fast and what is one day a word or term that only makes sense to geeks, can almost overnight become everyday language.

We now “Google” things, and “Facebook” people rather than research things or write letters, and suddenly we are accustomed to it.

So let me explain today’s heading…

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People often ask me what’s going on in the commercial rental property market. They’re all keen to hear the real oil, so I thought I would run through some current trends and some predictions.

I must as always qualify this by saying that there will always be exceptions to the rule and while these are broader trends, the situation will always vary on a property by property basis.

The current market is undergoing a double whammy experience of… (more…)

Since time began, cities around the world have offered the allure of seeking and making your fortune. Great world cities such as London, New York, Hong Kong and Sydney still hold that promise for many. (more…)

Don’t blame the recession for all those empty commercial properties you see. The recession is merely a short-term trend with a severe short-term impact on commercial property vacancy rates. But the digital age is a longer term trend with an even more profound impact on vacancy rates. (more…)