• Investor demand: agents report buyers moving from residential to commercial property after the federal tax changes
• Regional market: Knight Frank counts Wollongong among the strongest regional markets, with regional commercial volumes of $6.2 billion nationally in 2025
• Sales: 615 Princes Highway, Russell Vale, a 1,568 sqm highway-exposed site, sold on 6 October
• Port Kembla: a $14 million chemical filling facility DA on exhibition at Cleary Bros' 37–39 Five Islands Road site; a $7 million golf club redevelopment under assessment
• Big picture: the rezoned 200-hectare Port Kembla land transformation precinct heading towards development applications
• Interest rates: cash rate 4.60 per cent, a rise to 4.85 per cent widely expected on 3 November

The Illawarra Mercury reported a surge in commercial property activity in Wollongong as tax settings shift. Knight Frank's Illawarra team says some investors who would once have bought a house or unit are now looking at shops, offices and industrial units instead. Commercial property usually offers higher yields, longer leases and tenants who pay outgoings, which appeals when residential returns look less attractive.

The effect is most visible at the smaller end of the market, where shops, strata offices and industrial units under $2 million attract private buyers and self-managed super funds.

Highway-exposed sites in the northern suburbs remain scarce. 615 Princes Highway, Russell Vale, a 1,568 sqm landholding on one of the Illawarra's most visible commercial corridors, sold on 6 October. Further south, a retail investment at 3/47 Owen Street, Huskisson, sold on 22 October, showing demand for strip retail in coastal towns as well.

Port Kembla remains the Illawarra's industrial engine. The state has finalised the rezoning of about 200 hectares of former steelworks land for a business and high-tech employment precinct, with development applications expected from this year. It is one of the largest employment land opportunities on the east coast outside Sydney.

Smaller projects are moving too. A $14 million development application for a chemical filling facility for Paragon Aerosol and Volumetric Filling at 37–39 Five Islands Road, the Cleary Bros head office site, has been on exhibition. Port Kembla Golf Club's $7 million Swing Factory redevelopment is being assessed by Wollongong City Council.

With September CPI at 4.3 per cent, the cash rate is widely expected to rise to 4.85 per cent on 3 November. The Illawarra's new wave of private commercial investors often borrows to buy, so higher rates could cool some of the demand. Assets with strong leases and good locations should still find buyers.

• Port Kembla and Unanderra: the core industrial area, with the 200-hectare precinct as the long-term driver.
• Northern suburbs (Russell Vale, Bellambi, Corrimal): highway-exposed sites and service businesses.
• Wollongong CBD: office and retail benefiting from population and services growth.
• Shellharbour and Albion Park: newer industrial estates and retail for a growing population.

• Reach the new buyers. Former residential investors need clear, simple information about leases, outgoings and returns.
• Exposure sells. Highway and main road sites should show their traffic, signage and access clearly.
• Watch Port Kembla. As the big precinct moves to development, nearby industrial land could benefit.

Watch the RBA decision on 3 November, council decisions on the Port Kembla applications and the first development applications for the former steelworks land.