Despite having a much smaller population, Vancouver surpassed Toronto in terms of investment activity by more than $1 billion in the first six months of 2017.

This is the first time commercial real estate investment in Metro Vancouver – population 2.4 million – has surpassed that of Greater Toronto – population 6.4 million.

In the first six months of this year, Vancouver, posted a record-setting $7.8 billion in commercial investments, while Toronto posted $6.5 billion in similar spending, according to Avison Young.

Vancouver captured a 41% share of the national market in commercial real estate investments, while second-place Toronto made up 34%.

Vancouver commercial investments surged 75% from a year earlier to take the national lead, Avison Young reported.

With the exception of Ottawa (which saw investment activity plunge 57%), the remaining markets studied in the national report – Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal – all recorded increases year-over-year, and each exceeded the $1 billion mark.

In Vancouver, office investment rose 3% to nearly $2 billion by the midway point of 2017 compared with $1.9 billion in the first-half 2016. Retail investment increased 285% to almost $3.1 billion from $799 million in the first half of 2016.

Multi-family investment climbed 146% to $1.5 billion from $629 million one year earlier, despite supply remaining highly constrained. Industrial investment also increased, rising 44% to $668 million in the first half of 2017 from the same period in 2016. The value of industrial, commercial and investment land acquisitions dropped 18% year-over-year, to $527 million.

The biggest Vancouver transactions in the first half included the sale of a Cadillac Fairview office portfolio to an Ontario pension group for $1.25 billion, and the sale of the Oakridge Centre shopping mall by Ivanhoe CambridgetoQuadReal Property Group for more than $961 million, Avison Young reported.

Vancouver Investment in Commercial Real Estate Outpaces Toronto in First Half of 2017 by Business in Vancouver