British Columbia

While classes were disrupted this past winter by labour action, student enrolment at VIU rose 14 per cent in 2010. This is boosting hopes for a 50-year master plan for VIU's campus, which is located in Nanaimo's Harewood neighbourhood.

Powell River is now morphing, reluctantly perhaps, into a retirement and recreational destination, a trend boosted by low real estate prices and outstanding municipal services.

Vancouver will soon be seeing the construction of two and potentially four new office towers in the downtown core, the recent Vancouver Real Estate Forum was told.

Speculative industrial developers are confident B.C.

Western Canadian investors armed with a strong dollar are hunting for trophy properties amidst the depressed U.S. commercial real estate market. "The loonie's strength at the same time when U.S.

One of the last large pieces of Fraser River waterfront in Metro Vancouver will be developed into a 130-acre community of houses, condominiums, schools and shopping.

Despite a large amount of new construction and mall expansions, local Vancouver retailers are not expected to see an easing of retail lease rates this year. The reason is intense competition, much of coming from giant U.S. retailers. Confirmed U.S.

Investments in Vancouver commercial real estate posted average returns of 13.7 per cent in 2010, second only to Montreal as the highest in the country.

B.C.'s booming shale gas sector has become a victim of its own success, but experts say investors will hang on for the long term.

A recent study from Avison Young shows that industrial property accounted for 38 per cent of industrial sales last year, compared with less than 30 per cent three years ago.