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Lower Mainland CRE sales down sharply in first quarter

Commercial real estate sales drop in Lower Mainland

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

There was a sharp drop in the number of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in the first quarter of 2019.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says there were 318 CRE sales in Q1 2019 according to data from its Commercial Edge system. That’s a drop of 42.1% from a year earlier.

In total dollar volume terms, the drop was even steeper with a 57.3% decrease to $1.531 billion in Q1 2019, from $3.587 billion in Q1 2018.

“Much like we’ve seen in the residential market, there’s been reduced demand in the commercial real estate market through the first quarter of the year,” Ashley Smith, REBGV president said. “With housing inventory at a five-year high and more supply on the way, the development community appears to be taking a more cautious approach.”

How activity has changed Land: There were 87 commercial land sales in Q1 2019, which is a 63.1% decrease from the 236 land sales in Q1 2018. The dollar value of land sales was $709 million in Q1 2019, a 61.3% decrease from $1.832 billion in Q1 2018.

Office and Retail: There were 131 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in Q1 2019, which is down 26.8% from the 179 sales in Q1 2018. The dollar value of office and retail sales was $367 million in Q1 2019, a 72.6% decrease from $1.339 billion in Q1 2018.

Industrial: There were 92 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in Q1 2019, which is down 20.7% from the 116 sales in Q1 2018. The dollar value of industrial sales was $392 million in Q1 2019, a 35.1% increase over $290 million in Q1 2018.

Multi-Family: There were eight multi-family land sales in the Lower Mainland in Q1 2019, which is down 55.6% over the 18 sales in Q1 2018. The dollar value of multi-family sales was $62 million in Q1 2019, a 50.2% decrease from $125 million in Q1 2018.

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