Investment Overview
Investment in British Columbia's commercial real estate market resurged to near-record levels during the first half of 2021 after investors largely shrugged off a COVID-19-induced torpor with a particularly intense focus on acquiring industrial and multi-family assets.
Mid-year 2021: BC investment sales by dollar volume & number of sales
Office
Office investment dollar volume achieved highest level since 2019
Industrial
Demand for BC industrial assets achieved unseen heights in the first half of 2021
Already surpassed the total in 2019 and will surely blow past the record
The value of BC industrial assets sold in the first half of 2021 alone almost matched the total annual industrial investment recorded in 2017 and 2018, already surpassed the total in 2019 and will surely blow past the record of 111 sales valued at more than $1.51B set in 2020.
Retail
Sales of BC retail assets rebounded to highest dollar volume since 2018
One of the strongest halves for retail sales in recent memory
Investor confidence in BC retail assets, while initially bowed by COVID-19, appears to have stabilized. While still a far cry from the billion-dollar halves common in 2017 and 2018, investor appetite for retail assets in first-half 2021 seemed far from being satisfied.
Upsurge in demand for suburban retail assets remained key to overall deal and dollar volume
While the share sales of Mayfair Shopping Centre and Eagle Creek Village, both in Victoria, were two of the most significant retail trades in the first half of 2021, the upsurge in demand for suburban retail assets remained key to overall deal and dollar volume.
Multi-Family
Portfolio sales power multi-family dollar volume to new heights
Unprecedented demand for BC multi-family assets
There is no historical comparison for the deal and dollar volume generated by investors' appetite for BC multi-family assets in the first half of 2021. Sales of multi-family assets in just the first half of 2021 almost surpassed the entire annual BC investment total for all industrial, retail and office assets sold in 2014 ($1.95B).
First-half 2021 sales by property type & dollar volume
© 2021 Avison Young. All rights reserved. E. & O.E.: The information contained herein was obtained from sources that we deem reliable and, while thought to be correct, is not guaranteed by Avison Young Commercial Real Estate Services, LP (“Avison Young”)
