RENEWABLE ENERGY
The COVID-19 pandemic hit international property markets hard , and South Africa was not exempt . Postpandemic , the industrial property market is recovering very well , seeing annual growth thanks largely to increased demand for logistics and warehousing .
“ The data centre market is also experiencing growth and expansion , leading to large scale new developments which have dramatically increased land values in key industrial nodes .”
New industrial development rentals are higher than they have ever been . “ This demand is driven by the growth in online shopping , which skyrocketed during repeated lockdowns , and hasn ’ t subsided much post-pandemic ,” says Roxanne Fordyce , Transaction Services : Head of Tenant Representation at Cushman & Wakefield | BROLL . “ As a result , many new developments have taken place over the last two years , and the industrial market is even seeing some speculative developments going up , which is quite unlike its usual approach .”
In sharp contrast , the office market continues to struggle with an oversupply of space , especially in premium nodes like Sandton where there is approximately 380 000m2 of vacant space .
“ Office development is still at a standstill , resulting in developers diversifying into the residential market with largescale office conversions ,” Fordyce says . “ Poor office demand was exacerbated by the repeated lockdowns as
42 OCT 2022 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine