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Commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland exceed $5 billion in 2012

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The dollar value from commercial real estate transactions in the Lower Mainland eclipsed the $5 billion mark in 2012. This is the first time the region’s commercial real estate market has reached this mark since 2009, according to data from Commercial Edge—a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).

Last year’s $5.21 billion total represents an 11.2 per cent increase from 2011 when the year’s dollar value was $4.686 billion, a 12 per cent increase from 2010’s total of $4.655 billion, and a 62.1 per cent increase of 2009 when the annual dollar value total was $3.215 billion.

The Commercial EDGE system includes all commercial real estate transactions in the Lower Mainland, excluding Pitt Meadows and Chilliwack, that have been registered with the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia since 2009.

There were 1,875 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in 2012, according to Commercial EDGE. This is 2.6 per cent below the 1,926 sales recorded in 2011, 9.6 per cent above the 1,710 sales recorded in 2010 and an increase of 46 per cent from the 1,287 sales recorded in 2009.

“The strength of last year’s commercial real estate market can be attributed in part to an upswing in raw land sales in the region,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president said. “With this inaugural release of the quarterly Commercial EDGE report, we hope to help inform the public on trends occurring in our commercial real estate market.”

2012 activity by category:

Land: There were 599 commercial land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2012, up 15 per cent from the 521 land sales in 2011. The dollar value of last year’s land sales was $2.051 billion, a 9.7 per cent increase from $1.870 billion in 2011.

Office and Retail: There were 655 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in 2012, down 13.5 per cent from the 757 office and retail sales in 2011. The dollar value of last year’s office and retail sales was $1.813 billion, an increase of 18 per cent from 1.536 billion in 2011.

Industrial: There were 519 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2012, down 2.4 per cent from the 532 industrial land sales in 2011. The dollar value of last year’s industrial sales was $803 million, a 2.3 per cent increase from $785 million in 2011.

Multi-Family: There were 102 multi-family sales in the Lower Mainland in 2012, which is down 12 per cent from the 116 sales in 2011. The dollar value of last year’s multi-family sales was $544 million, a 10 per cent increase from $494 million in 2011.