Market Highlights

• Market conditions in Metro Vancouver remained tight on the heels of a record low average vacancy in Q4 2019, with a marginal 10 basis points (bps) increase to 3.9% in Q1 2020.
• Downtown vacancy contracted by 10 bps quarter over quarter settling at 2.2%.
• Suburban markets registered a 20 bps growth in vacancy to 5.6%, remaining one of the tightest suburban office market across Canada.
• The 2020 forecast was upended by the COVID 19 pandemic. As the global situation progressively unfolds, Metro Vancouver should be able to rely on strong fundamentals at the start of the economic crisis

Economics

• Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.3% month over month in January 2020, and 1.8% year over year, despite a slow down in Q4 2019. Metro Vancouver registered an overall GDP growth of 2.9% in 2019, however a recession is now forecast for 2020.
• British Columbia’s Consumer Price Index was reported by Statistics Canada at 2.2% in February 2020, and 0.6% in March 2020 (1.7% excluding energy).
• As of the third week of March 2020, B.C.’s unemployment rate soared to 7.2%, and Canada’s to 7.8%.
• After keeping the overnight target rate at 1.75% until the beginning of March 2020, Bank of Canada cut its rate several times in response to financial volatility. It now sits at 0.25%.

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