The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB)  reported today that 5,896,493 square feet of industrial, commercial/retail and office space were leased during the second quarter of this year. This number is just above the figure for Q2-2014, when a total of 5,806,376 square feet of space was leased. The industrial/commercial segment accounted for nearly 75 per cent of total space leased.

During the second quarter, the average industrial lease rate for properties leased on a per-square-foot net basis (when pricing was disclosed) was $5.42, a 6.5-per-cent increase over the same period last year. The average commercial/retail lease rate increased by 1.6 per cent over last year, to $19.27, while the average office lease rate declined by 8.6 per cent, to $12.27.

“The fact that second quarter industrial leasing activity remained quite strong on a year-over-year basis, and was coupled with a respectable annual increase in the average lease rate, suggests that many firms in the GTA have taken on new space with the expectation that their businesses will expand moving forward,” TREB president Mark McLean said in a press release.

Total sales in Q2 declined by 22.1 per cent, year over year, to 250 transactions. The number of deals declined across the board along with average selling prices on a per-square-foot basis in the industrial and commercial/retail property segments. The average selling price of office properties increased, in part due to a different mix of properties sold this year.

“The latest results for Canadian gross domestic product suggest that the dip in the oil and gas sector continued to be a drag on the overall economy in the second quarter. Looking ahead, the GTA economy stands to benefit from the decline in value of the Canadian dollar, especially in export-oriented sectors,” said McLean. “However, the timing for these benefits to materialize may be longer than originally expected, which may be prompting some would-be property investors to remain on the sidelines.”