Canberra has recorded its highest office building transaction in more than a year following the sale of Industry House in the city.
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The 15-storey office tower on Binara Street was purchased by British-based Brompton Asset Management from CorVal for $151.7 million on a yield of 7.5 per cent.
The building is home to the national office of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.
It is the highest price paid for an office building in the ACT since March last year when 50 Marcus Clarke Street fetched $232 million.
The sale marked the second foray into the ACT office market for the overseas company, which purchased 255 London Circuit for $55.2 million in 2011.
Jones Lang LaSalle ACT's Greg Lyons said the office block had attracted such a price because it was a relatively new building, had been constructed to high specifications and was less than halfway through a 15-year Commonwealth government lease.
He said since 2008 overseas investors had shown a strong interest in Canberra because of the high number of new buildings and long-term leases to the AAA-rated federal and ACT governments.
Mr Lyons, who negotiated the off-market sale, said more than 40 per cent of the office stock was less than 10 years old.
''The newer buildings in Canberra are very attractive to the overseas investors particularly the pension funds who guarantee long-term returns,'' he said.
''The older stock is less appealing to these particular mandates but there are players emerging out of Asia that are looking for value-add opportunities.''
Mr Lyons said while acquisitions to date had focused on new assets with long-term leases, there were groups looking for prospects within slightly older A-grade office buildings.
''There's no significant transaction to that effect, but there is a weight of capital looking for property opportunities in Australia and we're endeavouring to bring that to Canberra,'' he said.
According to data from Colliers International, there have been only two other office block sales this year.
Number 4 Mort Street sold for $14.75 million in May and Canberra House sold for $35.8 million in June.
Colliers ACT state chief executive Paul Powderly said the sale showed strong confidence in Canberra and confirmed the appetite of international investors to buy quality, well-tenanted buildings in a competitive Australian market.
''The ACT government's foresight to reduce stamp duty at the top rate has meant that buildings of this size and quality are now more competitive to both national and international investors,'' Mr Powderly said.