Calgary’s industrial market experienced its first significant increase in vacancy since the third quarter of 2016, where vacancy peaked at 7.44%.
Despite the escalation in vacancy, absorption remained positive this quarter due to maintained leasing and sale activity. The Calgary industrial market has seen a rise in transaction volume as a result of local expansion, and from a surge of new entrants into the Calgary market.
Many of these new entrants have experienced limited availabilities and increasing costs in markets such as Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto, which has helped bolster market activity here in Calgary.
Perhaps most importantly for Calgary, industrial land in Vancouver (an import/export super-hub) is becoming increasingly scarce, with Calgary (a major logistics & distribution hub itself) arguably best positioned to benefit as major owner/occupiers pivot inland instead.
