Greg Taylor

Halifax’s overall office vacancy saw a slight increase in Q1, which is now at 14.1%. This can mostly be attributed to an influx of sublease space in the Suburban market. The overall office market has remained fairly stable over the last year, despite post-COVID effects that have slightly cooled office market activity. Return-to-office momentum continued to slow, with some companies implementing full-time hybrid work models.

Demand for industrial space continues to be strong. While the vacancy rate did increase to 2.4% in Q1, this can be attributed to two newly built properties, which totaled over 140,000 square feet. With over 530,000 square feet of product currently under construction, and approximately 480,000 square feet expected to be completed by year-end, this should help maintain a certain degree of balance in the industrial market.

Demand for industrial space continues to thrive, which leads to another drop in vacancy rate from 2.13% to 2.0% this quarter. The availability of vacant industrial space in the Halifax inventory has seen some improvement, contributing to newly completed industrial properties in the Burnside market.