Colliers International Releases 2013 Metro Vancouver Investment Report

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 3, 2014) - Colliers International announced today, the release of their year-end 2013 Metro Vancouver Investment Report. Covering all investment activity exceeding $1 million dollars across the region, The Metro Vancouver Investment Report focuses on investment performance throughout four asset classes: Office, Multifamily, Retail and Industrial, showing that Retail and Industrial investments led the charge in the commercial real estate sector in 2013, due to a lack of supply and availability in other asset classes.

According to the report, although demand is still strong across all assets, Office and Multifamily had far fewer large properties come to market, resulting in lower dollar volume deals. As a result, Retail and Industrial continue to drive the commercial investment market - accounting for over two-thirds of total 2013 sales volume - with Retail reigning supreme over all other markets, at a 31% increase in total sales volume, over last year.

According to Colliers International, mixed-use communities in particular, like the Olympic Village in South East False Creek, are experiencing high demand for retail investment. As the largest single retail transaction to occur in the second half of 2013, the 63,000-square-foot-centre consisting of 12 units sold at a price of $45,100,000.

Other key findings of the report include:

• Office: A drop in dollar values in Office investment in 2013 indicates the lack of large product available in the market that private capital and institutional buyers are currently seeking
• Multifamily: Multifamily investment suffered a decline of almost 30 percent in dollar volume but overall transactions were the same across the region - demonstrating the higher volume of smaller value buildings sold
• Retail: Investment in the Retail region was exceptionally strong in 2013, with a total of 229 market transactions including share sales and more than $1.1 billion in dollar volume
• Industrial: Industrial Investment totaled 184 transactions yielding almost $979 million in sales volume, beating out $897 million in 2012

James Lang, manager of market intelligence at Colliers International, comments, "From the 2013 numbers, we've seen that the demand is still there in all asset classes, but due to a lack of large-scale supply in office and multifamily, the majority of transactions are occurring on small to medium opportunities. With this lack of supply, we predict that we will see more creative deals happening, like buying businesses with real estate assets, forward sales and sales-leaseback."

"Additionally, we believe that many new community plans that are continuing to take shape may unlock some land that could be used to sustain the office, retail and multifamily markets," James Lang adds.

Colliers International believes that until the lack of supply and willingness to let go of property is addressed, commercial investment activity will continue to see similar trends in Metro Vancouver into 2014.

For more information, and to read the full 2013 Metro Vancouver Investment Report, please click here.

About Colliers International

Colliers International is a global leader in commercial real estate services, with over 15,700 professionals operating out of more than 485 offices in 63 countries. Colliers International delivers a full range of services to real estate users, owners and investors worldwide, including global corporate solutions, brokerage, property and asset management, hotel investment sales and consulting, valuation, consulting and appraisal services, mortgage banking and insightful research. The latest annual survey by the Lipsey Company ranked Colliers International as the second-most recognized commercial real estate firm in the world.

In 2011, 2012 and 2013, the International Property Awards recognized Colliers International for excellence in the following categories: Property Consultancy, Property Consultancy Marketing and Property Consultancy Website.

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