The second quarter of 2018 has seen a bounceback for the Commercial Leading Indicator from the British Columbia Real Estate Association.
The CLI declined in the first three months of the year, a rare occurrence, but the latest reading shows a 1.9-point rise to 135.4, a 1.4% increase from the first quarter and a 2.7% rise from a year earlier.
“The CLI was propelled higher by strong manufacturing sales and employment growth,” says BCREA Deputy Chief Economist Brendon Ogmundson. “This suggests strong performance in the industrial sector through the balance of the year.”
Manufacturing sales increased 6% in the second quarter while wholesale trade ticked up 2%. Retail sales improved.
The employment component revealed that fewer people in BC were employed in the finance, real estate and insurance sectors; it was the third quarterly decline in these sectors.
Although commercial real estate activity has slowed down in the past six months, the trend is positive.
