How Australian commercial property can benefit from global growth

Growth rates are still below average but, despite dire predictions of China markets stalling and US activity slumping, there is generally an improved economic outlook around the world.

“It is a long, grinding cycle, but that new synchronicity is important,” said Wealth Management division director Martin Lakos, who is one of the speakers on Wednesday at the inaugural Symposium17, presented by Commercial Real Estate, on disruption and growth in commercial property.

“Europe is growing, Japan is improving, the US has momentum and China seems very, very stable despite ongoing criticism over the last 18 months which hasn’t come to fruition,” Mr Lakos said. ”The growth isn’t fantastic, but it’s not terrible either, which is good news for Australia.

“The question for us then is how to navigate, and take advantage of, that improving landscape.”

”In Australia, the world economic outlook is good news”, says Martin Lakos.

That’s an issue that experts from every facet of the commercial property industry – including developers, financiers, agents, insurers, investors and digital specialists – will be tackling at the day-long event in Sydney. Other themes will include technology, foreign investment, industry trends and the economic outlook.

The keynote speaker, former prime minister John Howard, will also be offering his views on the situation domestically and overseas in an address entitled ”Foreign investment, Asian markets and the impact on the commercial property industry”.

“John Howard will be fascinating,” Mr Lakos said. “His legacy is that he has a great sense of what people are thinking and needing and wanting, so his reading of the consumer and business sentiment will be very interesting.

“He’s always had an incredible network and that would mean receiving a constant flow of information from overseas, so I certainly feel he has the access to some great insights from a whole range of people here, and internationally. We all know that the Asian investment component is a pretty large factor in the growth of both commercial and residential property, and will only continue to grow.”

Other speakers include industry experts from firms such as Mirvac, Frasers Property Group, Charter Hall, AMP Capital, Colliers International, CBRE, JLL, Savills, Knight Frank, Google, Facebook, the SMSF Association, Burgess Rawson, the Green Building Council of Australia and Domain Group.

Grant Carter, national sales director of Commercial Real Estate said the symposium had been designed to give participants the tools to keep up with ”the latest trends, technologies and industry insights [which] are essential for staying relevant in this fast-changing world”.

Mr Lakos will be speaking on ”An economic outlook on the changing property market”, and will then be facilitating a panel session with different authorities on industrial, retail and office property, and on capital markets.

Former prime minister John Howard is speaking at Symposium17. 

“In Australia, the world economic outlook is good news,” he said. “We are big exporters of resources and services like property services, financial services, healthcare, tourism and education. Those are the sectors of the economy that
are making the largest contributions to growth domestically.

“But we are missing in some areas. We would like to see business investment improve and a recovery in wages growth to allow households to do more.

“Potentially there is an echo effect in the amount of infrastructure build taking place that benefits sectors like warehousing, but that’s not necessarily impacting other areas of commercial.”

Large tracts of land were being opened up for development in Sydney, in the north west and south west, while Melbourne is growing northwards, which drives investment in infrastructure and in business. But more needed to be done, he
said, including a reduction in red tape and time around approvals.

“But it’s definitely an improving picture,” Mr Lakos said. “It’s still modestly improving, but we need to know how to make the most of what is happening.”

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