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Despite negative figures in the latest commercial property confidence survey, the market is full of opportunities.
The Colliers International Quarterly Real Estate Confidence Survey released on Wednesday showed confidence in the commercial sector for the next 12 months has slid dramatically, with overall confidence across office, retail and industrial property sitting at -74%.
These are the lowest results recorded in the survey's four-year history.
Out of the three main centres surveyed, Auckland was the most pessimistic about the outlook, followed by Wellington and Christchurch.
Confidence faltered most in the Auckland retail sector which measured almost -80%, followed by Auckland office space at nearly -75%.
This compares with -74.2% in Wellington and -56.6% in Christchurch for retail, and -56.5% in Wellington and -22.5% in Christchurch for office space.
Jenni McManus from Fairfax Media says the negativity from Auckland respondents may be due to the flux in the market being felt more keenly, with rents dropping faster after having increased rapidly.
McManus says while confidence is low there are good opportunities in the commercial market but many are afraid to venture into it.
This is despite a marked drop in competition from developers, who are largely absent due to financing problems, and property trusts whose assets and share prices have dropped away.
"But biggest of all, the big Australian syndicates who were here between 2003 and 2007 have all gone home. They spent $5 billion in New Zealand during those years, which is basically half the value of Queen Street," she says.
McManus says there are also a lot of mortgagee sales in the commercial sector, with around 40-50 in the last year compared with 10 the year before.
The Colliers International survey also showed the commercial sector is offering the best investment returns historically, despite a downturn in confidence.
