Sydney CBD has historically been known as the most lively and fast paced place to be across Australia. Filled with high rise offices, hotels and apartment complexes, restaurants, cafes and top tier retail giants all contributing to the Countries economic success.
However, the COVID-19 Pandemic has changed that in the most devastating way. The economic activity in the city fluctuates from 12% with around 124,000 jobs being lost. For most of 2020, the city has been on life support as COVID-19 tips the scale and causes an economic recession in Australia since 1991.
The COVID-19 Pandemic forced many offices and hundreds of thousands of city workers to relocate home, swapping their fitted suits for trackpants and jumpers. With retail vacancy rising, lack of office workers and foreign students yet to return, the CBD rental market is weak. The major loss of activity and consumption has caused the Sydney CBD to turn into a Ghost Town. This has led to business and commercial units vacated with price decrease.
However, experts are projecting that The NSW market is likely to experience strong price increases overall in the range of 10-15 per cent in 2021 due to a combination of events especially low interest rate, government tax cuts and other incentives and the easing of coronavirus restrictions, as well as a strong rebound in consumer confidence, boosted by the federal budget, success in containing the coronavirus and the prospect of further interest rate cuts.
The recovery of our Sydney CBD will take time and a joint effort from federal, state and local governments as well as businesses and consumers. At this stage, with COVID-19 cases on the rise again, it is unlikely that life in the CBD will return to same way it was in 2019 even though property market is at boom.
