Commercial Real Estate in 2017 – Richard Crenian

Richard Crenian is confident that 2017 looks like it is set to be another major year for global real estate. Billions are already being funded and invested, with North America likely to be the recipient of much of the international property investment capital available. Although competition for deals may continue to be heavy in some areas, growing fundamentals in expanding metro areas may help provide some additional insights into which types of properties will perform well in this next phase of the market.

According to Richard Crenian, a flood of fresh capital, left over from 2016,  is waiting to be deployed into real estate this year, leaving investors trying to stay ahead of the game, wondering where it will go. This will be the big question in commercial real estate in 2017 according to Richard Crenian.

Richard announces that the 3 Cs’ of real estate for this year  will be Confidence, Capital, and Commercial property. International investors are now seeing strong economic activity and thus have become comfortable with the uncertainty that remains, as they are flushed with cash and credit to begin investing in the Canadian commercial real estate market.

According to Richard Crenian, how this capital will be invested may vary slightly depending on the region and the various opportunities that become available on to the market. Investors are reportedly once again expanding from core investments to core-plus and opportunistic opportunities, as well.

Intelligent investors and those that will come out ahead are those which are keeping a close eye on emerging trends and not just what worked in the last phase of the cycle. Technology, employment trends, venture capital flows, and industrial trends are all currently reshaping markets. While affordability and interest rates are also among the main factors which could impact real estate markets over the next 12 to 24 months.

These trends could especially make opportunistic and value add opportunities in the retail sector in Canada attractive this year. Between commercial real estate, new technology, enhanced retail performance, and the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline project, Western Canadian markets such as Calgary and Vancouver could bring exciting real estate investment opportunities in the months ahead.