Foreign investors to spark boom in real estate

Foreign investors will account for a record amount of commercial-property purchases in Canada this year, spurred by a weak currency, according to a forecast from the world’s largest real-estate services firm.

Acquisitions by international investors in 2016 will surpass the previous record in 2007, when 7.5 per cent of all deals over $10 million were from foreign buyers and $32.2 billion in commercial real estate traded hands in Canada, according to data compiled by CBRE Group Inc.

This year, CBRE forecasts $23.6 billion in total deals, with foreign buyers set to spend a record amount as they search for stability in volatile global markets. Foreign buyers made up 5.4 per cent of large transactions in 2015, the highest since 2007.

“Foreign capital should be very active in Vancouver, very active in Toronto this year, and currency absolutely is the icing on the cake,” said Mark Renzoni, chief executive officer of CBRE in Canada.