A strong fourth quarter closed 2015 as a record-breaking year in commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland.

There were a total of 2,307 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015. This is a 16.2% increase over the 1,985 sales in 2014, which was the previous five-year record holder.

Commercial real estate sales in 2015 were 15.3% above the region’s five-year sales average.

The total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland was $8.389 billion in 2015, nearly 33.7% above the $6.273 billion total in 2014.

“Last year was an extremely strong year for commercial real estate sales, led by growth in both office and retail space, and multi-family properties,” said Darcy McLeod, REBGV president. “Overall, these numbers reflect BC’s solid economy and our own residential real estate market’s growth.”

2015 activity by category

Land : There were 819 commercial land sales in 2015, which is a 26% increase from the 650 land sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s land sales was $3.825 billion, a 21.8% increase over 2014’s $3.139 billion.

Office and Retail : There were 807 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015, which is up 6.6% from the 757 sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s office and retail sales was $2.364 billion, a 40.9% increase over 2014’s $1.678 billion.

Industrial : There were 545 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015, which is up 15.7% over the 471 sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s industrial sales was $988 million, a 20% increase over 2014’s $823 million.

Multi-Family : There were 136 multi-family land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015, which is up 27.1% over the 107 sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s multi-family sales was $1.210 billion, a 91.6% increase over 2014’s $631 million.

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