Real Estate

More than 600 of fast growing Toronto-based real estate company Avison Young’s 1,700 global staff are set to be in Vancouver this week for networking, education and the company’s annual general meeting (AGM).

B.C. commercial real estate sales were strong in the first half of 2014 despite no big “trophy” sales, according to a September 5 report by Avison Young.

Housing in Vancouver became slightly more affordable in 2014’s second quarter, but prices remain well above those found in every other Canadian city.

Mobile home parks are attracting both institutional buyers and small-town investors because they “are recession proof”, according to Eugen Klein, a former Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver president, and a specialist in modular home parks with the Klein Group of Vancouver.

Higher sales and fewer new listings helped the benchmark Metro Vancouver home price rise 5% to $631,600 in August, compared with the same month a year ago.

Private investors have wrestled control of the Vancouver commercial real estate market away from big pension groups and real estate investment trusts (REITs), according to report from CBRE Commercial.

New retail space in Richmond is selling for up to $1,035 per square foot in and, overall, retail is the highest price commercial real estate on the Metro Vancouver market, according to a study by appraiser Bramwell & Associates Realty Advisors. In the City of Vancouver, new retail space is selling for $599 per square foot.

It came as a surprise to friends of 26-year olds Lauren Bennett and fiancé Aarron Costello when the pair decided to trade their Kitsilano rental for a semi-detached home in the suburbs. But, she said, “many of our friends are now considering doing the same.”

Some commercial real estate tenants are paying for “phantom” space that does not exist, according to lease consultant Dale Willerton, who warns that mistaken measurements can add up to huge costs. “We call them landlords with 13-inch rulers,” he said.

Home sales fell 7.8% in July across Greater Vancouver, according to Canadian Real Estate Association statistics released August 15, bringing the total sales to 2,672 for the month.