A strong fourth quarter closed 2015 as a record-breaking year in commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland.

There were a total of 2,307 commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015. This is a 16.2 per cent increase over the 1,985 sales in 2014, which was the previous five-year record holder.

Commercial real estate sales in 2015 were 15.3 per cent above the region’s five-year sales average.

The total dollar value of commercial real estate sales in the Lower Mainland was $8.389 billion in 2015, nearly 33.7 per cent above the $6.273 billion total in 2014.

“Last year was an extremely strong year for commercial real estate sales, led by growth in both office and retail space, and multi-family properties,” said Darcy McLeod, REBGV president. “Overall, these numbers reflect B.C.’s solid economy and our own residential real estate market’s growth.”

2015 activity by category

Land: There were 819 commercial land sales in 2015, which is a 26 per cent increase from the 650 land sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s land sales was $3.825 billion, a 21.8 per cent increase over 2014’s $3.139 billion.

Office and Retail: There were 807 office and retail sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015, which is up 6.6 per cent from the 757 sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s office and retail sales was $2.364 billion, a 40.9 per cent increase over 2014’s $1.678 billion.

Industrial: There were 545 industrial land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015, which is up 15.7 per cent over the 471 sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s industrial sales was $988 million, a 20 per cent increase over 2014’s $823 million.

Multi-Family: There were 136 multi-family land sales in the Lower Mainland in 2015, which is up 27.1 per cent over the 107 sales in 2014. The dollar value of last year’s multi-family sales was $1.210 billion, a 91.6 per cent increase over 2014’s $631 million.