With 60% of these located in Queensland, the state continues to have the highest proportion of distressed asset sales in Australia.
LandMark White research analyst Max Gran said this was significantly due to the grind in the commodities boom.
“In the case in Queensland you’ve got smaller towns with smaller populations and a lot of them run on one industry, specifically mining,’’ he said.
“We’re finding that as the price of things like iron ore and coal fall, industrial space in these regional towns in Queensland start being taken over by liquidators and receivers.”
Gran said sticking to the larger centres would be the best option for investors in the area.
“In terms of mitigating your risk in a place like Queensland, what the data is showing is you’re probably less likely to have distressed asset if you’re purchasing in Brisbane than if you’re purchasing in say Toowoomba or Townsville," he said.
In contrast, the distressed sales ratio in the southern states remained relatively steady, with Victoria rising to 8% and New South Wales dropping to 6% for the December quarter.
“In general if you’re in the metropolitan regions especially in places like Melbourne and Sydney you’re not going to see much forced sales in those spaces because they’re currently going through booms,’’ added Gran.
The higher and more concentrated populations of Victoria and New South Wales coupled with high international interest created a more secure environment for investors.
“In a place like Sydney where you’ve got a deep market, if there’s a little bit of shock to one market you can tend to pick it up in other markets," said Gran.
“We’re probably not going to be seeing any issues in the Melbourne space in the next quarter to quarter. But once we see those interest rates rise eventually, there might be a little bit of trouble in those metropolitan areas.’’
