Greater Toronto Realtors(R) Report Commercial Market Figures

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 7, 2014) - Toronto Real Estate Board President Paul Etherington announced that TREB Commercial Network Members reported 360,808 square feet of space leased on a per square foot net basis through the TorontoMLS system in July. This result, which included transactions with pricing disclosed, was down from 696,939 square feet reported in July 2013. The amount of leased commercial/retail space was up on a year-over-year basis, whereas the amount of industrial and office space leased was down. Industrial properties accounted for 60 per cent of total square footage leased.

"Commercial real estate transactions are often complex in nature, so it is common to see volatility in the amount of space leased from one year to the next on a monthly basis. While the amount of industrial space leased was down compared to July 2013, the average industrial lease rate was up over the same period. Part of this increase was due to the fact that there were fewer large spaces leased this past July compared to last year. Smaller properties tend to command comparatively greater lease rates," said Mr. Etherington.

The average per square foot net lease rate for industrial properties was up year-over- year to $5.45. The average office lease rate was also up over the same period to $13.75. The average commercial/retail lease rate was down over the same time frame to $18.77.

There were 71 combined industrial, commercial/retail and office properties sold through the TorontoMLS system with pricing disclosed in July 2014. This result represented an increase compared to July 2013, when 60 sales were reported. Sales for industrial and commercial/retail properties were up year-over-year, while sales of office properties were down.

Average sale prices on a per square foot basis were down in July for the major commercial segments compared to last year. However, the dip in average selling prices was driven, in large part, by a change in the composition of properties sold, both in terms of geographic location in the GTA and the size of properties sold.

"It is encouraging to see that the number of commercial property sales in July was up in comparison to last year. Realizing that this result only deals with the month of July, it will be interesting to see if sales growth continues through the remainder of the third quarter. If this turns out to be the case, it could suggest that GTA businesses are expecting improved economic activity in the region moving forward," continued Mr. Etherington.

Greater Toronto REALTORS® are passionate about their work. They are governed by a strict Code of Ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service. Over 39,000 TREB Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area. TREB is Canada's largest real estate board.