Adelaide: A global city with strong fundamentals and property market resilience

Adelaide is increasingly capturing the attention of global investors, businesses and talent and the latest Benchmarking Adelaide 2025report reinforces why.

Released by the Committee for Adelaide, the report compares Adelaide to a selection of peer cities across the globe across categories such as economy, business dynamics, skills, transport, vibrancy, sustainability, and brand reputation. In response, JLL has undertaken a deeper property market analysis, using its global real estate intelligence platform to benchmark Adelaide’s CBD against comparable cities including Austin, Auckland, San Diego and Portland.

The results paint a picture of a city that offers more than just affordability - it offers resilience, diversity and consistency in an increasingly volatile world.

Rick Warner, Director of Research, JLL, says “Adelaide continues to exceed expectations when we compare its property metrics globally”What we see here is a city that may be smaller in scale, but delivers stability, strong fundamentals, and growing appeal to capital - qualities that are more valuable than ever,” Warner continues.

Unlike many global counterparts where employment and commercial activity are fragmented across multiple precincts, Adelaide is highly centralised. Its CBD is the heart of the state’s professional, government, education and innovation sectors, creating a unique concentration of activity that has proven remarkably resilient.

“This kind of compact urban model creates efficiencies and fosters a strong, integrated employment base,” Warner notes. “It has also helped Adelaide recover faster post-pandemic than many larger, more dispersed cities.”

Key sectors including defence, healthcare, education, and advanced manufacturing continue to drive economic diversity. Initiatives like Lot Fourteen are further strengthening Adelaide’s position as a national leader in innovation, technology, and research.

JLL’s analysis shows Adelaide has consistently outperformed in key commercial real estate metrics:

• Investor Demand: Since Q1 2024, Adelaide recorded some of the strongest investment volumes across all comparable global office markets outside of the U.S. This is driven by both interstate and offshore capital, as well as sustained activity from local high net worth and syndicated investors.

• Affordability: Prime net face office rents averaged $493 per sqm p.a. in Q1 2025, making Adelaide the fourth most affordable among the peer cities benchmarked.

• Vacancy and Take-Up: The Adelaide CBD has recorded the strongest gross take-up in Australia over the past 24 months. Vacancy currently sits at 15.1%, on par with global cities like Auckland and San Diego, and significantly outperforming markets like Austin (25.2%).

• Occupier Mix: The CBD benefits from a diverse tenant profile across government, defence, education, technology, and professional services, minimising reliance on any single industry and increasing market stability.
   

Ben Parkinson, South Australia Managing Director, JLL, says, “Adelaide offers something rare - genuine economic and occupational diversity within a compact, affordable and liveable city. That’s why we’re seeing consistent investment even during broader global headwinds.”

While other cities might boast higher growth spikes in select sectors, Adelaide’s long-term advantage lies in its balance: resilient demand, a stable and diversified economy, and a property market grounded in strong fundamentals.

“The story for Adelaide is one of quiet strength,” Warner adds. “It’s not about hype, it’s about substance. And the property fundamentals show that strategy is paying off.”