Office vacancy rate fairly steady in city
September 22, 2009
Winnipeg Free Press
Written by: Murray McNeill
Slump one of the mildest in Canada: report
Winnipeg had one of the lowest office vacancy rates in the country in the third quarter of this year, according to a new market report from CB Richard Ellis Ltd.
"Backed by strong local economic conditions, commercial activity in Winnipeg remained healthy in the third quarter, as the city recorded one of the country's lowest vacancy rates, rising from 4.8 to 7.5 per cent, year over year," the company says in its National Office and Industrial Trends Third Quarter Report, issued Monday.
The city's office sublet market (as a percentage of vacancy space) also showed slight signs of improvement, dipping from 23.1 per cent to 22.5 per cent, the report says.
Winnipeg's overall rate was the third-lowest among the 10 cities covered in the report.
Vacancy rates nationally rose for the third straight quarter to an average of 9.4 per cent, up from 6.3 per cent for the same time last year, says the real estate services firm.
The report cites limited job creation in Canada's white-collar industries and the addition of new inventory in two of Canada's three largest office markets as reasons for the national increase.
London had the highest vacancy rate at 14.8 per cent, while Calgary's third-quarter vacancy rate jumped to 13.1 per cent, from 4.7 per cent last year, due to the impacts of a slowdown in the oil and gas industry.
"The city's oil and gas industry and commercial market remained inexorably linked, as players both large and small continue to recognize that even Calgary has not been immune to the country's new economic reality," the report states.
In Toronto, the commercial vacancy rate rose to 9.1 per cent from 6.6 per cent last year. The vacancy rate in downtown Toronto is expected to climb further in the coming quarter as space becomes available in newly constructed office towers.
In Vancouver, vacancy rates climbed to 8.9 per cent from 5.4 per cent for the same time last year. The report says Vancouver is one of the more stable markets in the country thanks to limited new development.
Ottawa had the lowest rate at 5.8 per cent (up from 5.0) and Waterloo had the second-lowest at 6.7 per cent (up from 6.4).
Vacancy rates for commercial real estate are expected to keep rising "well into 2010" as the country works through the impact of the recent recession, the report says.
"These conditions of burgeoning space are expected to negatively impact vacancy rates for some time, at least until economic fundamentals are restored and employment figures resume in sectors that typically occupy downtown office space," said CBRE vice-chairman John O'Bryan.
murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
-- With files from Canwest News Service |
