HomeCo Ballarat shopping centre has been sold for $54 million, setting a new record in regional Victoria’s large format retail (LFR) sector.

Tim McIntosh, director of retail middle markets at Colliers, managed the sale of the property on behalf of HomeCo Daily Needs REIT.

The North Wendouree-based property is fully leased, and its tenants include Spotlight, SuperCheap Auto, PetBarn, Anaconda, BCF, and Fantastic Furniture.

“The LFR sector is experiencing an uplift in buyer demand from new buyer groups, including superannuation, syndicate and private capital, with investors drawn to fixed annual review mechanisms and robust tenant demand from predominantly national tenants,” said McIntosh.

Colliers data showed that the LFR market’s transactions totalled $346 million across LFR markets year-to-date, surging 70 per cent from a year ago.

The Colliers Retail Middle Market team alone secured $222 million of the transactions across eight centres, accounting for 63 per cent of market share.

“The retail market has shown remarkable resilience,” said McIntosh. “The limited supply of high-quality investment stock in a sector experiencing increased buyer demand is reflected in the strength of the results achieved nationally.”