Investor enthusiasm is steadily increasing in Canada’s commercial real estate sector, according to a new report.
Real estate firm Avison Young released a report on Tuesday looking at investment trends during the second quarter, finding that activity among private investors accounted for the majority of transactions. The report also highlighted certain factors like the economic backdrop and rising populations are likely to help the sector rebound.
“The commercial real estate market is set for ongoing improvement throughout the year, signaling a notable turnaround from the challenges of the previous year,” the report said.
The report predicts further reductions in borrowing costs following the Bank of Canada’s June interest rate cut, coupled with Canada’s unemployment rate rising to 6.4 per cent and a softening job market.
Canada’s population is also growing at a record pace, the report notes, which is spurring demand for rental properties across the country. The multi-residential sectors “remains largely dominated” by private buyers, the report highlighted while predicting that institutional investors will re-enter the market in the third quarter.
“With these positive developments, coupled with anticipated rate cuts and declining bond yields, investor enthusiasm is steadily increasing,” the report said.
Avison Young’s findings also suggest that, over the second quarter of 2024, Canadian private investors dominated acquisitions of income-producing properties.
This trend, the report says, represented 82 per cent of transactions, up from 73 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
Canadian institutional investors made up five per cent of these transactions, which is eight per cent lower than the previous quarter, the report says.