Investment Jumps In Calgary Commercial Housing Market

The commercial real estate market in Calgary has experienced a tremendous increase in investment. The total investment put in to commercial real estate was reported by Altus Group to have gone up by 59 per cent in Calgary and in Edmonton by 35 per cent in the first quarter of this year unlike the last quarter of the previous year.

The increase in Calgary was as as a result of the office market at $481 million, which was 46 per cent of the summed up dollar volume of $1.04 billion. 21 per cent of the market which was $215 million (up by 40 per cent over each quarter) was taken by industrial. Retail declined to $80 million, down by 45 per cent in the previous quarter, however, it had gone up by 37 per cent from the year before. The apartment area was worth $30 million, together with the quarter before, but was 72 per cent less that the first quarter of last year.

Director and Data Solutions of Altus Group, Paul Richter said; “Transaction values in the Calgary market have reached the $1 billion dollar mark for the second time in two years, however the market has also approached historic lows during that same time frame. Portfolio and larger individual property transactions are an indication of confidence in the market, however they represent an overarching influence on the total numbers and mask the more tepid underlying market performance.”