The Toronto Real Estate Board says 639,878 square feet of industrial, commercial, retail and office space was leased in May, a significant increase from April’s leasing transactions (436,433 square feet) and a 47 per cent jump from the same period last year.

Approximately 72 per cent of the deals involved industrial space. These transactions had an average lease rate of $5.30 per square foot, up 1.5 per cent.

“Despite slower than expected economic growth to start 2014, we experienced a considerable uptick in the amount of space leased,” says commercial committee chair Cynthia Lai. “The consensus view is that the slow first quarter GDP growth in Canada and south of the border was mainly due to extreme weather,” she says.

Lai adds that should the United States economy continue to grow at an accelerated rate, it will likely have a positive effect on the Canadian market, namely exports. “Many GTA businesses arguably subscribe to this view and were taking on space in May in anticipation of stronger demand for their goods and services,” she says.