- What Altus Group reported that commercial property transactions were down in the GTA during Q3
- Why Interest rate cuts have yet to spur market activity
- What next Multifamily properties saw the biggest gains in investment activity
The country’s largest property market is struggling to shake off its doldrums as market activity continues to flag despite recent interest rate cuts, Altus Group said in a quarterly market update.
The firm reported that $12.9bn of commercial properties changed hands in the GTA through the third quarter, a 23% decline year over year. “Despite the interest rate cuts and the gradual improvements to investor sentiment, the inherent lags mean investment activity will take time to recover,” Altus said.
The office sector saw the steepest declines in sales, dropping 62% year over year to $1bn. Industrial sales through the first nine months were down 24% to $4.1bn. And land deals for commercial and residential projects slipped to under $4bn, a drop of 29% year over year.
Multifamily is the only property sector to see a meaningful uptick in activity at the end of Q3, with $1.8bn of sales, up 34% over the year-ago period. Retail property sales were up 4% compared with the first nine months of 2023 at $1.5bn, as investors zeroed in on neighourhood and regional shopping centres, particularly those with grocery anchors.
Hotel sales totaled $519m, up sharply from $163m a year ago, though most of that comes from the sale of a Morguard portfolio to InnVest Hotels. No sales were reported for the sector during the third quarter.
Notable property sales tracked by Altus in Q3 include Prologis snaring a 1.3m sq ft distribution centre at 8450 Boston Church Road in Milton for $361m, or $270/sq ft, as well as Greenrock’s sale of the Village Green Apartments complex in Toronto to Brookfield for $264m.
The largest office transaction of the quarter saw Carttera offload a suburban Oakville flex-office campus for $36m, or $330/sq ft, for the 109,000 sq ft portfolio.
And Empire Communities had the largest land deal of the quarter when it acquired the 1.6-acre King’s Mill development site in Etobicoke from Vandyk Properties for $48m through a court-ordered sale. The property had been expected to trade for over $30m.
