If you own an industrial property in Melbourne's west and are thinking about selling or leasing it out, the instinct is to focus on price. In this market, that is the wrong first question. The bigger risk is time.
Vacancy is at a decade high
Melbourne industrial vacancy sat near 5 per cent through the first half of 2026, close to the highest level in a decade and roughly double the ten year average of 2.6 per cent (Knight Frank, Melbourne Industrial State of the Market, Q1 2026). While that number climbed, landlords in the west pushed incentives to 26.1 per cent to keep deals moving.
Why time on market is the real cost
An empty building does not sit still. It carries rent you are not collecting, outgoings, and land tax, every single week it stays vacant. In a market where tenants and buyers have options, a building that is priced too high or presented poorly simply waits longer, and every week of waiting is a real cost. The sticker price you hold out for can be smaller than the months of vacancy you pay for it.
What the owners getting clean results do differently
In a high vacancy market, the winning move is usually to be early and realistic, not late and hopeful.
The picture underneath the vacancy figure
It is not all soft. Leasing activity in the west is running above long term norms, and the west recorded the strongest take up of any Melbourne precinct in early 2026. Demand is there. With new supply forecast to fall about 37 per cent in 2026, the pressure is expected to ease into 2027. The point is not to panic. It is to price and act for the market you are actually in.
Where Fairmont fits
We work only in industrial property across Melbourne's west and Geelong. That focus means when your property comes to market we already know the owner occupiers, investors and tenants most likely to move on it, and we can tell you what it is genuinely worth today.
What is your industrial property worth?
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Fairmont only sells and leases industrial property across Melbourne's western corridor and Geelong. That focus is deliberate. It means we know the buyers who are active right now and what they are prepared to pay.