Sales activity and dollar volumes in the Lower Mainland’s commercial real estate market held steady in 2022, despite the challenging headwinds brought about by the highest borrowing costs seen in over ten years. 

There were 2,116 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in 2022, a 22.9 per cent decrease from 2,743 sales in 2021, according to data from Commercial Edge, a commercial real estate system operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV). It’s an approximately 1.6 per cent decrease from the five-year average for sales (2,082) in the region.  

The total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland was $12.885 billion in 2022, a 16.5 per cent decrease from $15.424 billion in 2021. This is a six per cent increase from the five-year average for dollar values ($12.153 billion). 

“With the Bank of Canada raising the policy rate from 0.25 per cent to 4.5 per cent in a little under one year, the strong sales volumes seen in the Lower Mainland last year really speak to the resilience of our market,” Andrew Lis, REBGV’s Director of Economics and Data Analytics, said.

“While sales were down in the second half of 2022 relative to the first half, the figures were roughly in line with what we’ve seen historically, when our market wasn’t facing down challenging headwinds from much higher borrowing costs, and the looming possibility of an economic recession.”

Land: There were 718 commercial land sales in 2022, which is a 14.4 per cent decrease from the 839 land sales in 2021. The dollar value of land sales was $7.319 billion in 2022, a 5.5 per cent decrease from $7.746 billion in 2021. 

Office and Retail: There were 804 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in 2022, which is down 23.3 per cent from the 1,048 sales in 2021. The dollar value of office and retail sales was $2.332 billion in 2022, a 26 per cent decrease from $3.153 billion in 2021. 

Industrial: There were 500 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2022, which is a 30 per cent decrease from the 711 sales in 2021. The dollar value of industrial sales was $1.863 billion in 2022, a 23.9 per cent decrease from $2.447 billion in 2021. 

Multi-Family: There were 94 multi-family land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2022, which is down 35.2 per cent from 145 sales in 2021. The dollar value of multi-family sales was $1.371 billion in 2022, a 34.1 per cent decrease from $2.079 billion in 2021.

Owned and operated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), the Commercial EDGE system includes all commercial real estate transactions in the Lower Mainland region of BC that have been registered with the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia. Commercial EDGE is updated monthly based on data originating from the BC Assessment Authority. Commercial EDGE does not include share sale transactions as they are not registered with the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia. Please note that historical data may be subject to revision as transaction records are received from the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia. 

Craig Munn
VP, Communication and Events
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
604-730-3146
cmunn@rebgv.org