The B.C. multifamily market had it strongest first-half performance in more than five years, with the $140M sale of Boardwalk REIT’s B.C. apartment portfolio to Realstar Group representing 35% of total transaction volume province-wide. The three multi-residential buildings in the deal included Horizon Towers in Burnaby ($54M), Surrey Village ($48M, pictured below), and Christie Point Apartments in Victoria ($38M). “This is very significant,” Avison Young’s Rob Greer tells us. “We haven’t seen a REIT in B.C. sell three assets before.”

The multifamily market also was propelled by the sale by the City of Vancouver of its remaining interest in the Olympic Village for $91M. These two big deals brought the total dollar volume in the multifamily segment to $396M, surpassing the first half of 2013, which saw only $154M in transactions. "But if you strip out those two deals it’s really a normal half year for our markets," Rob says, which typically see $5M to $10M apartment sales. “It’s rare for us to have apartment deals over $50M.”