Ashley Ford
Province
The robust B.C. economy has spelled the end of double-digit office vacancies across the Lower Mainland, Royal LePage Commercial Inc. said yesterday.
In its latest office-vacancy-rate survey the company said the vacancy rate has slipped to 9.1 per cent from 10.2 with space becoming even tighter in the central core. The office sector is seen by many economists as an important financial barometer and Vancouver and B.C. would seem well set for the future given the latest numbers.
That rate has now dipped to 7.5 per cent from 8.5 in the recent quarter and good space is becoming difficult to find downtown.
“We can still find space in the nooks and crannies but anything with a view is basically gone,” said Doug Mowatt, vice-president of Royal LePage Commercial in Vancouver.
With construction costs soaring, continuing demand for space will likely benefit more affordable space in the suburbs where the vacancy rate, while falling, remains in the double digits at 12.3 per cent, down from 13.6 in the second quarter.
While it is the robust economies of B.C. and Alberta showing the way, the sector is also doing well elsewhere in Canada, further indicating the national economy is doing well. The national office-vacancy rate has fallen to 8.9 per cent from 9.5.
© The Vancouver Province 2005
