Lower Mainland commercial real estate sales in the first quarter (Q1) of this year fell to the lowest level for sales volume in a first quarter since 2009, reports the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
The total dollar value of commercial sales in the region was $886 million in the first quarter, a 40 per cent decline from the same period in 2012.
There were 384 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in the first three months of 2013, according to the board.
"Commercial real estate activity eased in the Lower Mainland in first three months of the year. This comes on the heels of a strong post-recession commercial market over the past few years," said board president Sandra Wyant. "Reductions in the total dollar value of land and office and retail properties were the key drivers behind this quarter's declines compared to recent years."
The board's Commercial Edge system, which tracks the non-residential real estate market, includes all commercial real estate transactions in the Lower Mainland - excluding Pitt Meadows and Chilliwack - that have been registered with the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia since 2009.
By sector, the study found:
-- there were 91 commercial land sales, down 42.4 per cent from the first quarter of 2012. The dollar value of land sales was $322 million, down 43.5 per cent from a year earlier;
• there were 159 office and retail sales, a 6.5 per cent decline from the same period in 2012.
• The dollar value of industrial sales in was $211 million, a 12.1 per cent increase from the same period a year earlier; and
• there were 25 multi-family sales in Q1 2013, unchanged from Q1 2012. The dollar value of multi-family sales was $99 million, a 15 per cent decline from a year earlier.
from Western Investor July 2013
