HtAG Launches Commercial Dex to Show Investors Where to Buy Commercial Property

Australian investors can now test every council against their own budget and yield targets for industrial, office and retail property, with data to Sep 2026.

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, October 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- HtAG Analytics has opened Commercial Dex, a commercial property research tool that compares 544 Australian council areas for industrial, office and retail property, to all members as an open beta. The tool tests each council against an investor's own budget and return targets, using market data to 30 September 2026, and grades the confidence of every figure.

What is Commercial Dex?

Commercial Dex is council-level research for the first decision in a commercial property search: deciding where to look. It shows which councils fit a buyer's brief, which might fit, and which do not, with the figures behind each answer. It is designed for private investors, self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees, owner-occupiers and the buyers agents who advise them.

The tool holds data for 544 council areas and ranks only those with enough market evidence to compare fairly: currently 166 for industrial property, 152 for office and 185 for retail. Councils without enough evidence stay visible on the map, but they are flagged rather than given an estimated rank.

Why location research matters in Australian commercial property

Australian commercial property sales reached $87.82 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, up 25.7% on the year before, according to preliminary Ray White Group research data published in July 2026. Industrial was the most traded sector at $28.34 billion, or 32.3% of the total, and sub-$5 million industrial units continued to attract private investors and SMSFs.

Most published research covers capital city CBDs and major precincts, so private buyers often start with a listing and work backwards to the area. Commercial Dex reverses that order, so buyers can compare council areas on leasing speed, sales activity, rents, prices and the local business base before they inspect a property.

How does the Commercial Dex brief work?

Commercial Dex works in three steps: Set up, Narrow and Present. Users choose industrial, office or retail property, and rental income, growth, or both. An optional brief then turns their numbers into tests that every council is checked against.

A budget of $2.5 million for 800 square metres, with purchase costs of 5% of the price, becomes a ceiling of $2,976 per square metre. Investors can add a loan-to-value ratio, an interest rate, outgoings the tenant will not pay and a vacancy allowance, then set pass marks for interest cover, cash-on-cash return and the spread over a risk-free rate. Owner-occupiers get a shorter form focused on price, floor area and time to sell.

Councils are sorted into three results: Meets your brief, where every test passes; Potential fit, where nothing fails but some evidence is missing; and Outside your brief, where at least one test fails.

In a worked example published by HtAG, three industrial council areas were tested against a $1 million brief for 300 square metres, using data to September 2026. Townsville met the brief. Cardinia had almost the same yield but failed the time-to-sell test. Greater Dandenong was over budget and failed the yield tests. A best fit shows where to start looking, not what to buy.

How reliable is commercial property data?

Commercial property data is thinner than residential data, and Commercial Dex is designed to show that rather than hide it. Every figure carries a high, medium or low confidence grade. Estimates are marked as estimates and show their standard error, and provisional quarters appear as dashed lines on trend charts.

Every council also has a plain-English page covering leasing, selling and the local economy. Each page ends with a "Before you inspect" checklist covering lease terms, the tenant's ability to pay, outgoings, incentives, vacancy risk and zoning.

In the Present step, users compare up to five councils side by side and download a research brief as a PDF or the figures as a spreadsheet.

What the data shows for Australian commercial property (September 2026)

HtAG has published five new guides alongside the launch, drawing on Commercial Dex data to 30 September 2026:

- Retail-type businesses grew in 18% of council areas over the latest two years, against 41% for industrial-type and 46% for office-type businesses.
- Industrial accounted for 47% of the value of approved non-residential building work in Australia in the 12 months to July 2026, ahead of office at 27% and retail at 26%.
- Among the five largest capital cities, Greater Brisbane had the longest typical remaining lease term on commercial property for sale, at 4.4 years.
- Industrial property for sale was mostly offered vacant in Greater Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, while retail property was mostly offered with a tenant.

Shaped by members

A group of HtAG's Elite members tested Commercial Dex on real searches before the open beta, and large parts of the tool were rebuilt around their feedback.

"Commercial buyers have tended to start with a listing and then try to justify the location," said Mat Djolic, Co-Founder of HtAG Analytics. "Commercial Dex puts the location question first, tests it against the buyer's own numbers, and is honest about how much evidence sits behind each figure."

Availability

Commercial Dex is available now to HtAG members from the Tools menu. The brief and ranking are included from the Investor plan. Business community trends, approved building work and vacant or tenanted listings are included from the Professional plan.

A free commercial property heatmap is also available to everyone, with no card required. It shows properties for sale and for lease across every Australian council area for industrial, office and retail property.

Commercial Dex is general market information to help users shortlist, not a valuation, a forecast of returns or financial advice. Features and data may change during the beta.

About HtAG Analytics

HtAG Analytics is a Sydney-based property intelligence platform that provides market research across 7,000+ Australian suburbs and 150+ metrics for buyers agents, property investors and developers. HtAG publishes its picks and backtests, and is a member of the Proptech Association Australia.

Mat Djolic
HtAG Analytics
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
X
Other