BRITISH COLUMBIA

Year-End 2021 BC Investment Review

BC investment market hits record stride as deal velocity achieves new heights with vociferous demand

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Investment Overview

A robust resurgence in investor confidence in British Columbia’s commercial real estate market took hold in 2021 with sales activity achieving new heights with the most deals ever registered in a single year in BC and the third-highest dollar volume on record.

Year-End 2021: BC Investment sales by dollar volume & number of sales

Office

Office investment dollar volume in 2021 was a notable increase over 2020.

Sales activity totalled 52 transactions valued at $1.36B

Office investment sales in 2021 totalled 52 transactions valued at $1.36B, representing 26% of the overall annual dollar volume of $5.3B while capturing 18% of total BC sales.

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Investment in BC office buildings in 2021 marked a notable improvement from 2020

The second half of 2021, while surpassing the poor performance recorded in the back half of 2020 (14 sales/$281M), registered just 21 sales valued at $593M.

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Industrial

Unprecedented demand for BC industrial assets supercharged investment activity in 2021 with an eye-popping 154 sales valued at more than $2.3B – burying the record of 111 sales valued at more than $1.51B set in 2020.

154 sales valued at more than $2.3B – burying the record

Investment in BC industrial assets has exceeded $1B annually since 2017 and took just five years to more than double in dollar volume.

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Surpassed all other asset classes in 2021 for the second consecutive year

The number of deals – 154 – recorded in 2021 also represented a new high-water mark in terms of deal velocity in any asset class and blew past the previous record of 111 set by BC’s industrial market in 2020.

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Retail

Sales of BC retail assets rebounded with 86 sales valued at $1.65B in 2021.

Investor enthusiasm remained high in the second half of 2021

All of this activity was achieved in 2021 without the sale of any significant retail assets in Metro Vancouver.

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Retail deal and dollar volume in 2021 surpassed 2019 totals

While the dollar volume in 2021 remained substantially off 2017 ($3.6B) and 2018 ($2.9B) totals, deal velocity in 2021 surpassed 2018 (79 sales) and fell just short of the record set in 2017 (96 sales).

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Multi-Family

Investment activity in multi-family assets in BC achieved new heights in 2021.

An astonishing 141 sales valued at almost $3.2B, doubling the previous dollar volume record

Investment activity more than doubled the previous dollar volume record of $1.51B set in 2018 and far surpassed the deal volume record of 89 sales in 2017. (Avison Young only tracks multi- family sales trading at more than $5M.)

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Investor appetite for multi-family properties appeared boundless

Total multi- family investment in 2021 surpassed the value of the entire commercial real estate market (as defined by Avison Young) in 2020 and was only surpassed in terms of annual dollar volume by the levels of BC commercial real estate investment recorded from 2016 to 2019.

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Total 2021 sales by property type & dollar volume

YEAR-END 2021 | BRITISH COLUMBIA

Investment Review

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© 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”)