Paul Martin’s Business Update – February 5th, 2015

With all the talk about the impact of lower oil prices on the provincial economy, a national real estate firm has offered a slightly different view of our prospects.

Colliers International, a commercial real estate brokerage with offices in both cities, has just issued its Regina outlook for 2015 and it is remarkably upbeat. While banks are forecasting the provincial economy will grow roughly one percent his year, Colliers has pegged Regina’s expected growth rate at 3.5 per cent this year. Obviously they see strength in the major urban centers.

They also suggest that the vacancy rate for downtown office buildings will rise as more inventory comes on stream while retail is going to continue to expand but at a slightly slower pace.

One particular notable comment focuses on industrial. Regina sits in fourth place on the list of Ten Most Expensive Industrial warehouse locations. Honolulu tops the list followed by Victoria, Saskatoon and then Regina. The price per square foot in our two cities is higher than San Francisco, Calgary and Long Island, NY.

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