Article content continued
“The industrial market is now starting to witness rental rates pushing into double digit figures for prime warehouse space for the first time in the GTA,” Colliers’ Tim Loch said. “This is predominantly due to the tremendous lack of supply within the market for both quality spaces and large blocks of availability.”
In Calgary, demand for good quality assets remained strong despite the impact of an oil-dependent economy hurt by low crude prices, at least until the recent drone strikes on Saudi Arabia. Some investors are taking a wait-and-see approach, Colliers said.
“Institutional investors remain cautious about office assets and their shift in focus toward other asset classes has kept these market segments competitive,” Mark Berestiansky, managing director of Colliers in Calgary, said in the report. “The change in provincial leadership has investors waiting to see what new policy initiatives will be unveiled and how it will impact economic development.”
Meanwhile, foreign investment in Canadian commercial real estate plummeted 70 per cent in the year’s first six months compared with last year’s first half amid a lack of asset availability, according to data from Altus Group Ltd. reported by Bloomberg.
When including Canadian buyers, the tally falls by 28 per cent, it said. Sales of rental apartments increased while those of retail properties fell, the report showed.
Sales to foreigners declined to $1.5 billion from $5 billion a year ago as top-tier office buildings or rental apartments in urban areas remained in short supply, according to Raymond Wong, vice president of data operations at Altus.
The total will rise as announced deals close in the coming months, Altus said, citing a $2.4 billion bid by Chicago-based Ventas Inc. to buy a seniors housing portfolio, and Oxford Properties Group’s imminent sale of the Fairmont hotels to Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte.
cmclelland@postmedia.com
Source link
