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Sales of land, not buildings, dominate the commercial real estate market in Metro Vancouver, according to a survey released by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). In fact, of the $5 billion worth of commercial real estate handled by Board members last year, land accounted for $2.05 billion in dollar volume up 9.7 per cent from a year earlier. Total unit sales were up 15 per cent as 599 lots were sold.
As a comparison, sales of office and retail properties were down 13.5 per cent; industrial real estate sales were down 2.4 per cent; and sales of multi-family properties were down 12 per cent, though the dollar volume of the 102 sales was an impressive $544 million.
There were 1,875 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in 2012, according to Board’s Commercial EDGE report. This is 2.6 per cent below the 1,926 sales recorded in 2011, 9.6 per cent above the 1,710 sales recorded in 2010 and an increase of 46 per cent from the 1,287 sales recorded in 2009.
“The strength of last year’s commercial real estate market can be attributed in part to an upswing in raw land sales in the region,” Eugen Klein, REBGV president confirmed.
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