Property
Issue No. 37 - October/November 2007
Shop growth spree but no sign of glut
by Mr Kel Spencer
The Shopping Centre Council of Australia indicates there is now 17.8 million m2 of shopping centre floor space in Australia, of which 85% is occupied by retail uses.
NSW accounts for 33% of the total retail floor space while Tasmania, SA, Northern Territory and the ACT combined only contribute 12% of total retail area.
As of the beginning of 2007, Australia had 1102 shopping centres 759 supermarket centres, 268 discount department store based centres, 63 regional centres and 12 CBD based shopping centres.
In contradiction, the Property Council of Australia suggests 1364 shopping centres and many market and corner stores are not included in the statistics.
The definition of a shopping centre varies, with researchers often providing retail data that is conflicting in nature. This report relies heavily on information supplied by the ABS and the Shopping Centre Council of Australia.
There are 48,400 specialty shops, including non-retail outlets such as banks and post offices: 28% are in regional centres, 39% in sub-regional centres, 30% in supermarket centres and 3% in CBDs.
Total estimated turnover for Australia in 2006 was $91 billion. The aggregated share of regional centres was 27%, sub-regional centres 39%, supermarket centres 31% and CBD centres 2%. The retail component of the total turnover was $85 billion, or 1.7% of GDP.
Since 1999 there has been 25% growth in the number of sub-regional and supermarket centres. Retail sales at shopping centres has grown $33 billion, for 52% share of total retail sales growth in Australia over this period.
The May Federal Budget gave the average Australian family an extra $15 per week. Coupled with low inflation figures, steady interest rates and optimistic consumer sentiment, retail spending is expected to show strong growth for the remainder of 2007.Table 2
illustrates the Retail growth trends across the Nation between 2003 and 2007.
Latest statistics suggest a...
