After making gains for seven consecutive quarters, activity in B.C.’s commercial real estate market reached a record high in the third quarter of 2014.
The B.C. Real Estate Association’s (BCREA) commercial leading indicator rose 1.4 index points to 118.4 in Q3, according to a report released December 1.
The previous record of 117.1 was set in the second quarter of 2014.
Although job growth in B.C. has expanded be less than 1% in 2014, employment in sectors tied to the index had strong growth in the third quarter.
“Employment in the (commercial leading indicator) aggregate of office employment increased by 16,000 jobs in the third quarter while manufacturing posted a gain of 1,900 jobs,” the report said.
“A surge in office employment and a fourth consecutive increase in average quarterly manufacturing employment pushed the employment component of the index up sharply.”
The BCREA also noted third-quarter retail sales were up 1.1% from the same period a year prior, while manufactured goods sales were up 1.1% in Q3.
The commercial leading indicator forecasts change in commercial real estate activity at a lag of two to four quarters and is revised each quarter.
The variation in the indicator is broken down between economic activity, employment activity and financial activity.
