Metro Vancouver sales of real estate assets valued at more than $1 million hit a near-record level in the first quarter of this year, according to a survey by RealNet Canada Inc. The survey found that 299 large properties changed hands, with a total value of $1.2 billion. Most of the big deals were in land transactions.
This was the second-highest sales volume for a first quarter since 2007. Total volume, however, was dialled down 16 per cent from the last quarter of 2011.
This year's volume would have been higher had the $400 million sale of the Bentall Five office tower in Vancouver, which closed in May, been included.
The first quarter saw a heady pace of land deals, with residential land sales accounting for one-third of sales volume. Together with commercial sites, land sales made up 52 per cent of the volume.
Eight residential land parcels sold for more than $10 million each, including five in the City of Vancouver. Two commercial land deals exceeded the $10 million mark, including the $22.1 million purchase of 58 industrial parcels by the City of Surrey.
In the office sector, six deals were valued at more than $10 million each for a total of nearly $200 million. RealNet reports that the average office building sold for $496 per square foot with a capitalization rate of 4.7 per cent.
from Western Investor July 2012
