Commercial Office Occupiers' Perceptions of Office Market in Post-Earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand

Sandy Bond and Zoltan Moricz

ERES from European Real Estate Society (ERES)

Abstract: The 22 February 2011 Canterbury earthquake had a devastating impact on Christchurch property with significant damage caused to land and buildings. As at November 2011, around 530 buildings have either been demolished or identified to be demolished in central Christchurch. In addition, around 140 buildings have either been partially demolished or identified to be partially demolished. The broad aims of our ongoing research are to (i) examine the nature and extent of the CBD office relocation, (ii) identify the nature of the occupiers, (iii) determine occupier's perceptions of the future: their location and space needs post the February earthquake, and the likelihood of relocating back to the CBD after the rebuild and the release of the Christchurch Recovery Plan. To address these issues, the third of our six-monthly surveys of around 20 questions was developed. A total of 631 contacts received the survey. These contacts were obtained from two sources. Firstly, 275 suburban office occupier contact details were obtained from a physical survey of office occupiers as of August 2011. The survey recorded a response rate of 15.4% (97), a decrease from the previous two surveys when response rates were 22% (139) and 21.8% (140) respectively. This lower response rate may be due to survey fatigue. Based on the findings of the initial survey, just over half of respondents were relocated CBD occupiers and 45% were existing suburban office occupiers. Results from the first survey indicate that 66% of respondents have reduced their office size since the earthquakes. More than a quarter of relocated tenants signed leases of one year or less, and 27% of businesses are now working out of residential premises. In comparison to the previous surveys, the CBD has become less attractive to office occupiers. Currently, only 27% (26 of the 97 respondents) of the occupiers surveyed have an intention to move into CBD, which decreased as compared to the January 2012 and August 2011 surveys, recorded at 32% and 38% respectively.

JEL-codes: R3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-01-01
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