Developers are facing escalating material costs, supply chain disruptions and labour shortages in step with climbing vacancies and falling rental rates that were not contemplated 18 months ago.

Market analysts anticipate more capital flowing into the sector as vacancies tighten and rental rates rise, and they warn that available space is nearing depletion in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal if leasing continues at the recent pace.

An influx of new office supply was always expected to shake up the status quo in the downtown Toronto market given that approximately two-thirds of the 8+ million square feet of space currently under construction is already preleased.

Canadian commercial real estate assets are comparatively less exposed to the dire physical threats that extreme weather poses or has already served up in other global regions.

Real estate analysts point to burgeoning momentum in Canada’s strong research institutions, increasing calls for domestic production capacity and the STEM job creation engine.

Nearly 900,000 workers in technology sector positions comprise about 5.6 per cent of the Canadian labour force and are making their presence felt in the real estate markets of large and mid-sized cities alike.

Canada-wide, CBRE pegs the total office vacancy rate at 12 per cent across the nine major markets it surveys, ranging from a low of 5.4 per cent in Vancouver to nearly 26 per cent in Calgary.

Static cap rates reflect limited transactions in the second quarter of 2020, but commercial real estate analysts express confidence that asset values are holding under COVID-19-related pressures.

Thus far, in most markets, there’s been no spurt of office sublets or rent discounts that conventionally signify an economic downturn, but there has been a flurry of conjecture about the forces COVID-19 may have unleashed.

Office landlords could be focused on issues around rent deferrals and mechanisms for payment support well into Q2, while social distancing imperatives have accentuated somewhat diametrical trajectories for industrial and retail properties.

Multifamily assets delivered the lowest income return of the property sectors to institutional investors in the Canada Property Index last year, but produced strong total returns on a foundation of 7.3 per cent capital growth.

Investment market dynamics stayed on trend in the third quarter of 2019, meaning that multifamily cap rates continued to compress. CBRE pegs the national average for Class A high-rise buildings at 3.82 per cent.

It's a Canadian co-working revolution, and it's transforming the office landscape. According to from CBRE, flexible office companies have expanded their office leasing footprint by 303% since 2014.

The rankings reflect CBRE's assessment of each market's competitive appeal based on 13 variously weighted indicators that collectively present a picture of employment trends and other factors helping to attract and sustain a tech labour force.

Commercial real estate is a notable multidisciplinary industry that increasingly risks a notorious reputation for the largely uniform composition of its leadership ranks.

Much of the current negative sentiment relates to the emergence of informal rooming houses in predominantly single-family residential areas near suburban post-secondary campuses.

Senior ranking valuation specialists agreed that new uncertainties around fraying trade agreements, political instability and climate volatility have broadened the scope of their worries well beyond rising interest rates.