Australia Retail Figures Q1 2025

Key Points:

• Retail turnover experienced a slight increase of 0.2% m-o-m in February following a 0.3% rise in January and a 0.2% decline in December 2024. Food related spending continued to drive this growth, with food retailing up by 0.6% and cafes, restaurants, and takeaway services increasing by 0.2%.
• The Consumer Sentiment Index rose 4% in March, reaching 95.9 from 92.2 in February, its highest level in three years. The increase was driven by the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate cut in February and easing cost-of-living pressures.
• Net face rents grew across all sectors in Q1. Prime large format assets recorded the highest growth of 2.4% q-o-q.  
• Yields saw very little movement over Q1 with regional centres compressing by 1bps q-o-q while sub regional and large format centres saw compression of 2bps and 1bps respectively. The market is expected to have peaked with further interest rate cuts in 2025 putting downwards pressure on yields. 
• In Q1 2025, there were 23 retail transactions totalling c.$1.507 billion. Retail transaction volumes in Q1 were 12.7% lower than Q1 2024.