Industrial real estate sales in Burnaby rose 20% in 2010 as debt markets and investor demand continued to improve last year.
According to an Avison Young report released yesterday, 41 industrial properties worth a total of $100.6 million changed hands last year. That’s up from 38 deals in 2009 worth $83.7 million.
The market was bolstered initially by smaller industrial owner-users who re-entered the market last year and were then followed by larger players later in the year.
Low vacancy and increased investor demand allowed sellers to realize a return on their investments made over the past few years. The average price per square foot last year was $183. While down from the average of $186 in 2009, it's still a significant premium from the $175 per square foot in 2007 and $148 in 2006.
South Burnaby continued to be an area of interest for investors and owner-users. Some of the larger sales in the latter half of 2010 included the $8.9 million sale of 3811 North Fraser Way and the $5.5 million sale of 7898 North Fraser Way in South Burnaby. Developers including Amacon and the Beedie Group are in various stages of developing projects in the area.
Estimated at 2.8%, Burnaby's industrial vacancy rate is the lowest in metro Vancouver.