Part of the demand has come from the wealth effect, where shoppers are flooding stores to buy new furniture and they have a few extra dollars to spend with low interest rates and petrol prices.

Craig James, the chief economist at CommSec, said confidence has improved, particularly in the way consumers are viewing their own financial circumstances.

"Consumers view their current finances as [being]  in the best shape in five months and there hasn't been a stronger reading on the outlook for family finances in 13 months," Mr James said. "If people believe their finances are in reasonable shape, clearly they are more likely to spend."

Mirvac has recently raised more than $150 million through the sale of two centres in Queensland, and more deals are expected in the sector in the coming six months.

Another was the Kmart Queanbeyan, which was bought by Sandran Pty Ltd, an established investor in the Canberra region, for $22.3 million.

The sale was negotiated by Ben Stewart, Daniel McGrath, Andrew Palmer of Knight Frank, on behalf of vendor LaSalle Investment Management. However, they declined to comment on the deal.

The centre is anchored by Kmart on a 20-year lease expiring in 2032 spread across 5176 square metres with upper level office accommodation leased to the NSW government-owned corporations Essential Energy and Government Property NSW.

The centre is at 30 Morisset Street, with its main frontage spanning Morisset Street. The 10,384-square metre property is situated one block north of Queanbeyan's main thoroughfare, Monaro Street, which links to the Kings Highway and offers 119 car spaces.

Retail agents have said that the merger between Novion and Federation will also lead to at least one asset sale in Melbourne, but could trigger others.

The rising housing market has also prompted the Swedish giant IKEA to expand, with its latest store at Sydney Business Park, in Marsden Park. The park is a 256-hectare master-planned, campus-style development with a 28,000-square metre Ikea store as the anchor.

Sydney Business Park development director, Owen Walsh, said the IKEA store opening was an exciting milestone for Sydney Business Park and Western Sydney.

He said the Sydney Business Park retail centre delivers more than 90,000 square metres of floor space and includes other major tenants such as Costco, Bunnings, Masters Home Improvement, Home Hub, Lindt and ALDI.

To date, Sydney Business Park has commitments for more than 2150 new jobs, 252,000 square metres of floor space and $495 million of investment.  On completion, the area will provide 17,000 direct jobs for Western Sydney.

The $2 billion Sydney Business Park ison Richmond Road in Marsden Park, 37 kilometres north-west of the Sydney CBD and just one minute from the M7.