Morguard research director Keith Reading anticipates it’ll be more of the same for Vancouver’s investment-property market in 2015: cap rates will remain among the lowest in Canada for major asset classes, and available assets will be hard to come by. “Existing owners have seen their assets perform really well,” says Keith, who snapped this selfie while awaiting a flight to Chicago yesterday. Owners don’t want to sell, given the healthy returns. “But a lot of investors not in the market would like to be in it. The city attracts a disproportionate share of foreign capital, he says, in addition to luring investors active in other Canadian cities.
With demand high and supply low, the cost of available assets keeps rising, Keith says. “Vancouver’s prices are the most expensive in the country, and returns are the lowest,” typically 50 to 100 basis points less than elsewhere in Canada. Investors who can’t gain a presence through existing inventory have been growing their own, particularly in the super-constrained industrial market. Key developments Keith and his team are tracking this year include the second phases of Beedie Development Group’s Tilbury West Corporate Centre (an earlier phase is seen above) and Dayhu Group of Cos’ Boundary Bay Industrial Park, both slated to open later this year.
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