Perth’s tightening office market creates an opportunity for existing assets

The next phase of Perth’s office cycle may be less about building more, and more about making existing buildings better.

Perth’s CBD office market is showing clear signs of strengthening.

According to Knight Frank’s Perth CBD Office Market Report, CBD vacancy fell to 15.4% in the first half of 2026, following net absorption of 27,528 sqm. Prime vacancy fell to 13.7%, with more than 22,000 sqm of net absorption occurring in prime stock.

More significantly, Knight Frank is forecasting CBD vacancy to fall to around 8% by 2030, against a backdrop of no meaningful new office supply currently forecast to complete before then.

For owners of existing Perth office assets, that presents an interesting opportunity.

A rising market won’t lift every building equally

While tightening vacancy is positive for the CBD overall, the benefits are unlikely to be simply a product of being in the market.

Demand is currently particularly concentrated in higher-quality assets, according to Knight Frank. That raises an important question for owners of established buildings:

What will make their asset competitive as the market tightens?

The answer does not necessarily need to be a major refurbishment.

In our view at Helm, some of the biggest opportunities can come from taking a more considered look at the existing asset: how it presents, how it operates, where capital is being spent and what will genuinely improve the experience of the people occupying it.

That can mean examining building services and plant condition, reliability, energy performance, maintenance standards, common areas, amenity and the arrival experience alongside the asset’s broader leasing strategy.

The objective isn’t simply to spend more.

It is to understand where investment will have the greatest impact on the asset’s performance and competitiveness.

From deferred capex to deliberate investment

Periods of stronger market conditions also provide owners with an opportunity to get ahead of asset issues rather than responding to them later.

A building may be performing well commercially today while still carrying ageing plant, deferred maintenance, inefficient service contracts or significant future capital obligations.

A clear three, five or ten-year asset plan can help owners distinguish between expenditure that is urgent, expenditure that improves performance and expenditure that can be appropriately timed with future leasing, refurbishment or lifecycle events.

That distinction matters.

Good asset management isn’t about eliminating expenditure. It’s about making capital decisions deliberately, with a clear understanding of what the asset needs and why.

A window to reposition existing assets

With limited new office supply forecast and demand strengthening, the next few years could provide an important window for owners of established Perth CBD assets to consider their position.

Not every building needs to become Premium Grade.

But every owner should understand what their building needs to do to remain relevant to the market it is targeting.

“A tightening office market is unquestionably positive for Perth, but it doesn’t mean every building will benefit equally. For owners of existing assets, this is a good time to step back and understand where targeted investment can materially improve the building, rather than waiting until leasing pressure dictates the response.”
Matthew Holmes, CEO, Helm Asset Advisory

At Helm, we believe the strongest asset strategies connect the commercial objectives of ownership with the practical realities of the building itself.

The opportunity is not simply to spend more capital as the market improves. It is to invest in the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.

Market statistics referenced from Knight Frank’s Perth CBD Office Market Report, as reported on 6 October 2026.
[commo.com.au], [propertymarkets.news]