Rising interest rates and other challenges for businesses is having an affect on Vancouver’s commercial real estate activity.
Second-quarter transactions of 569 was lower than recent years and a 16.3% drop from the second quarter of 2017, according to data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
“Similar to our residential market in recent months, we’re starting to see fewer transactions across all categories in our commercial market,” Phil Moore, REBGV president said. “Higher interest rates, reduced retail activity, and other economic factors are contributing to this change.”
However, prices are rising with the total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland up 13.4% year-over-year to $4.047 billion in Q2 2018.
Sales by sector
Commercial land sales saw the largest percentage drop in Q2 2018 compared to a year earlier. There were 217 commercial land sales, down 16.5% from the 260 land sales in Q2 2017. The dollar value of land sales was $2.287 billion, a 24.6% increase year-over-year.
There were 192 office and retail sales, down 20% from the 240 sales in Q2 2017. The dollar value of office and retail sales was $813 million in Q2 2018, a 19.7% decrease year-over-year.
Industrial sales totaled 126, down 6.7% from the 135 sales in Q2 2017. The dollar value of industrial sales was $0.387 billion in Q2 2018, a 23.9% increase year-over-year.
There were 34 multi-family land sales, down 24.4% from the 45 sales in Q2 2017. The dollar value of multi-family sales was $559 million in Q2 2018, a 37% increase year-over-year.
