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A robust industrial sector helped push commercial real estate volumes up 28 percent from the previous quarter, but investment activity remains in a lull compared to 2016 results. Q3 commercial real estate investment numbers gathered by Altus Group show $219 million recorded in the industrial asset class — the strongest of the seven sectors tracked — accounting for 32 percent of the total investment.
A total investment value of $688 million translated into 135 transactions of over $1 million, with the industrial sector leading the pack. Paul Richter, director of data solutions at Altus Group, said Calgary's "evolution as a logistics hub" has emboldened growth in the sector. This is the second quarter this year that industrial transaction levels blew past the $200 million mark.
Although residential land sales took a modest dip from the previous quarter, the sector recorded the strongest year-to-date growth. The $87 million posted is a 53 percent jump from the first three sectors of 2016. The ICI land sales asset class largely had the opposite experience, with a slight rise from the previous quarter to $101 million, but still settling 36 percent below the numbers seen in Q3 2016.
Despite 14 transactions worth $46 million, the dollar volume in the apartment sector was down from the last quarter by 50 percent and Q3 2016 by 60 percent. The office and retail sectors saw respective increases to $91 million and $125 million, though year-to-date sales volumes fell in both by about one-third.
