Super prime CBD retail rents have surged across Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide for the first time since the onset of Covid-19, according to a report by the CBRE.

Adelaide recorded the biggest increase, with super prime rents up 7.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $3275 per sqm, the Australian Retail Figures Q2 2023 report shows.

Brisbane was close behind with a 7.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter jump to $3595 per sqm, followed by Sydney with 1.5 per cent growth to $10,944 a sqm.

Perth and Canberra recorded stable rents, while Melbourne was the only capital city to go against the trend with super prime rents dropping 7.4 per cent to $6250 per sqm.

“The Q2 result is evidence that retail rents may have bottomed across most CBD retail markets and are on the way up, particularly for super prime assets,” said Leif Olson, CBRE’s Australian director of retail leasing.

“With vacancy rates stabilising across the country, coupled with international tourists returning, we see a positive outlook for retail across all markets and are expecting more improvement in rents for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.”

Despite the increase, super prime CBD yields softened for the first since the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate hiking cycle that began in May 2022, said CBRE research analyst Bass Miller.

The CBRE report added that regional shopping centres dominated transaction activity in Q2, accounting for 54 per cent of all retail investment sales totalling $564.5 million.

Meanwhile, large format retail face rents remained mainly unchanged quarter-on-quarter across most states.