Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...

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Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...
Canadian
   Multifamily
   Overview
   Demand Drivers &
   Market Fundamentals
   Mid-Year 2019

CBRE Research
Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...
Part 1/
Setting the
Stage
Canadian commercial real estate experienced an                                  multifamily sector were 9.8% as of Q1 2019, second only to
unprecedented decade of demand and returns since the                            the industrial sector, which has also benefitted from a recent
Global Financial Crisis in 2008. Robust economic growth,                        period of tremendous rent recalibration.
employment gains in the technology and other high-skilled
                                                                                While the multifamily sector’s ability to generate consistent
service sectors, strengthening trade, the rapid growth
                                                                                cash flows and provide defensive positioning against
of ecommerce and shifting demographics have pushed
                                                                                economic cycle downturns has always made it an enticing
fundamentals across the commercial real estate landscape
                                                                                option for investors, the current landscape is stronger than
to record levels. Strong property fundamentals have in turn
                                                                                it has been at any other time in history. Performance drivers
led to commercial real estate acquisition volumes reaching
                                                                                including a growing population, rising home ownership
a 15-year high of $49.3 billion in 2018, while cap rates have
                                                                                costs and lack of rental supply are becoming entrenched in
compressed to 10-year lows.
                                                                                many markets across the country, which means the appeal
Even against a backdrop of impressive results, the                              of multifamily assets is likely to increase.
multifamily sector stands out from the pack as the top
performing commercial property type in North America.
                                                                                Figure 2: REALPAC/IPD Canada Property Fund Index
Based on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s
(CMHC) 2018 data release, the national average multifamily                      Total Returns as of March 2019 (12mo Trailing)
vacancy rate ended the year at 2.4%. This was below the                         16.0%
                                                                                                                                       14.1%
10-year average of 2.6%, and well below the national average                    14.0%
vacancy rate for each of the office, industrial and retail                      12.0%
sectors, both here and in the United States.                                                                             9.8%
                                                                                10.0%
With apartment buildings at near full occupancy in markets                       8.0%                                                                 7.4%
from coast to coast, rent growth has accelerated. Over the                       6.0%                      5.2%
last two years, average rents for purpose-built rental units                                   3.7%
                                                                                 4.0%
have grown by 4.4% annually at the national level, and by                        2.0%
5.0% in Toronto and by 7.1% in Vancouver. This rapid rise
                                                                                 0.0%
of rental rates has resulted in strong investment returns                                      Retail     Office       Multifamily    Industrial   All Property
for landlords. Total annualized returns for the Canadian
                                                                                                                                     Source: MSCI, May 2019.

Figure 1: North American Vacancy Rate Comparison

              Office                                                                                                                      12.2%

               Retail                                                                                   8.8%
 US

           Industrial                                                                7.1%

          Multifamily                                    4.0%

              Office                                                                                                            11.3%

               Retail                             3.4%
 Canada

           Industrial                           3.1%

          Multifamily                    2.4%

                    0.0%          2.0%                 4.0%            6.0%                 8.0%               10.0%                 12.0%              14.0%

Notes:
i) Industrial figures are availability rates,                                                                    Source: CBRE Research, CBRE Econometric
ii) Retail rates are composite figures including Neighbourhood, Community, and Strip assets,                   Advisors and Canada Mortgage and Housing
iii) Canadian multifamily figures as of October 2018.                                                                             Corporation, Q2 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                    CBRE RESEARCH | 2
Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...
Part 2/
Drivers of
Multifamily                                                       Figure 3: G7 Population Growth
                                                                  Average Annual Population Growth
                                                                  1.20%
                                                                  1.00%
                                                                  0.80%      0.94%
                                                                  0.60%

Population Growth                                                 0.40%
                                                                  0.20%
                                                                                         0.63%
                                                                                                     0.46%        0.46%

                                                                  0.00%
Canada’s population grew by 1.1% per year from 2009
                                                                  -0.20%                                                    -0.04%       -0.03%
to 2018 and is expected to continue expanding at a rate                                                                                           -0.38%
of 0.9% over the next four years, outpacing all other G7          -0.40%
                                                                            Canada       United      United      France      Italy     Germany    Japan
nations by a considerable margin.                                                        States     Kingdom
                                                                                              Source: International
                                                                                                 2009-18            Monetary Fund, March 2019.
                                                                                                                 2018-23
Much of this momentum is being fueled by immigration
due to the fact that, unlike other global leaders, Canada
remains supportive of immigration as an economic                  Figure 5: New Immigrant Targets 2019-2021
imperative. The total number of newcomers has                                 1.3%
increased substantially over the last four years
                                                                                 14.5%                               Economic Programs
and immigration accounted for 80.5% of Canada’s
population growth in 2018.                                                                                           Family Programs

The federal government announced a plan in 2018 to                          26.5%                   57.7%            Refugees and
welcome one million new immigrants into the country                                                                  Protected Persons
between 2019 and 2021. While the new migrants will be                                                                Humanitarian and
admitted through a mixture of economic, family, refugee                                                              Other
and humanitarian programs, the bulk of those admitted
                                                                                                             Source: Government of Canada, 2018.
will be approved on skill-based or economic grounds.

As population has grown, so too has demand for                    Figure 6: Canadian Population Growth by Market
housing, particularly for purpose-built rental units.             Net International Migration Annual Average | ‘13 to ‘18
While immigration has been spread across the country,             100,000
the greatest impact has been felt in major urban centres           80,000

such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal and it is no               60,000

coincidence that these markets, primarily Vancouver                40,000

and Toronto, are also those which have seen the greatest           20,000

increase in demand for multifamily rental options.                      0

                                                                                           Source: The Conference Board of Canada, Q2 2019.

Figure 4: Canadian Population Growth Breakdown
450,000
400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
 50,000
      -
          1972
          1973
          1974
          1975
          1976
          1977
          1978
          1979
          1980
          1981
          1982
          1983
          1984
          1985
          1986
          1987
          1988
          1989
          1990
          1991
          1992
          1993
          1994
          1995
          1996
          1997
          1998
          1999
          2000
          2001
          2002
          2003
          2004
          2005
          2006
          2007
          2008
          2009
          2010
          2011
          2012
          2013
          2014
          2015
          2016
          2017
          2018

                                    Net International Migration    Natural Increase in Population
                                                                                           Source: The Conference Board of Canada, Q2 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                              CBRE RESEARCH | 3
Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...
Rising Home
Ownership Costs
Housing Prices have been a growing concern in Canada
                                                                                  Figure 8 - Canadian Housing Affordability Comparison
over the past few years. The largest effects have been felt
in Vancouver and Toronto where prices for a variety of                                                        15.0

                                                                                                                             Vancouver
housing alternatives have grown substantially since the end                                                   14.0
of 2014. In an attempt to combat this rapid growth, each of
                                                                                                              13.0
the British Columbia and Ontario provincial governments
put forth new housing regulations in late 2016 and early                                                      12.0

2017 aimed at cooling foreign investment and speculative                                                      11.0
purchasing. While these measures, in conjunction with
                                                                                                              10.0

                                                                                                                                         Toronto
new federal mortgage requirements, did cool the markets,

                                                                                Housing Affordability Index
prices are still comparable to where they were at the time                                                     9.0

the regulations were implemented. Benchmark home prices                                                        8.0

                                                                                                                                                      Waterloo
in Vancouver and Toronto sit just below $1.0 million and
                                                                                                               7.0
$800,000 today.

                                                                                                                                                                            Montreal
                                                                                                                                                                   London
                                                                                                               6.0       Severely

                                                                                                                                                                                                             Winnipeg

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Edmonton
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Calgary
                                                                                                                                                                                       Ottawa
Recent reports have shown that when comparing                                                                            Unaffordable
                                                                                                               5.0

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Halifax
affordability (the relationship between average home                                                                     Seriously Unaffordable
                                                                                                               4.0
prices and median incomes) across global cities, Canadian
                                                                                                                         Moderately Unaffordable
markets consistently rank as some of the least affordable                                                      3.0
                                                                                                                         Affordable
in the world. According to Demographia’s annual survey                                                         2.0
of global housing affordability, Vancouver and Toronto are
                                                                                                               1.0
ranked as the second and tenth least affordable cities in the
world for housing. No major Canadian city was classified as                                                     -
                                                                                                                     0                                                                                                                           11
affordable in this report, although some markets including
                                                                                                                                                   Major markets classified as metropolitan areas with
Winnipeg, Edmonton and Halifax were close to this
                                                                                                                                                                   more than 1,000,000 population.
threshold with scores below 3.7.
                                                                                                                                                   Median Multiple indicator is median house price
                                                                                                                                               divided by median pre-tax gross household income.
While rising home prices are not necessarily a problem by
                                                                                                                                                     Source: 15th Annual Demographia International
themselves, the chief issue is that income growth has not                                                                                                              Housing Affordability Survey.
kept pace with the growth witnessed in housing prices.

Figure 7 - Effects of Government Regulation
Benchmark Home Price
$1,150,000                                                                                                                                                       National B-20 Update
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Vancouver
                                                                                                                                                                   B.C. Foreign                                                    $998,700
                                                                                                                                                                    Buyers Tax
 $950,000
                                                                                                                                                                            Ontario Fair                                            Toronto
                                                                                                                                                                            Housing Plan                                           $798,500

 $750,000
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     National
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Aggregate
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    $625,300
 $550,000                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Ottawa
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     $424,400

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Calgary
 $350,000                                                                                                                                                                                                                            $419,900
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Montreal
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     $365,700

 $150,000                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Edmonton
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     $323,900
         2005     2006        2007     2008      2009     2010    2011   2012                             2013           2014            2015                    2016       2017                2018         2019
                Regulations          National           Toronto     Vancouver                                   Calgary                   Edmonton                          Montreal                        Ottawa
                                     Aggregate
                                                                                                                                                                  Source: CBRE Research, The Canadian Real
                                                                                                                                                                              Estate Association, June 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                                                                                         CBRE RESEARCH | 4
Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...
RISING HOME OWNERSHIP COSTS -
CONTINUED
When looking at the 10-year period preceding the end of
                                                                    Figure 10: G7 Household Debt Levels
H1 2019, average Canadian incomes have risen by a total of
                                                                    Household Debt Ratio
29.3% according to the Conference Board of Canada. For              Debt to Disposable Income
their part, purpose-built rental rates have grown by a slightly
                                                                    180
higher 31.1%. While these rates do differ, the gap between
them is small and the growth pattern has been consistent:           160
synchronized and linear. This however was not the case for
                                                                    140
home ownership costs. Home and condominium prices
have grown by 66.7% and 68.4%, respectively, over this same         120
time period.
                                                                    100
Income requirements are also not the only point of
consideration. A further impediment to home ownership                80

for many Canadians is access to capital for the 10-20%               60
down payment required upon signing. For instance, down
payments for condos in large cities typically total over             40
$100,000 at a minimum. This is complicated further by the
                                                                     20
fact that Canadians have some of the highest debt levels in
the developed world. Based on the most recent figures from            0
the OECD, the Canadian debt ratio (the ratio of National                  Canada     United     France     United     Japan   Germany   Italy
                                                                                    Kingdom                States
debt to disposable income) sits at 180.9. The next most
indebted G7 nation, the United Kingdom, has a ratio of only                                                 Source: Organisation for Economic
                                                                                                         Co-operation and Development, 2019.
148.9.

As home ownership costs have risen, an increasingly
large number of Canadians have been added to the renter’s
pool and this dynamic, in conjunction with population
growth, has driven demand for comparatively affordable
multifamily units.

Figure 9: Rising Canadian Home Ownership Costs
Growth Rate
(Indexed to 100 @ H2 2009)

170.0

150.0

130.0

110.0

 90.0
         H1     H2    H1     H2   H1   H2   H1    H2    H1    H2     H1    H2      H1    H2     H1       H2    H1      H2     H1   H2     H1
           2009      2010          2011       2012       2013    2014         2015       2016                       2017      2018 2019
            Income per Capita        Rental Rate (2-bdrm)     Ownership Cost (Single Detached)                      Ownership Cost (Condo)
                                                             Source: CBRE Research, Canadian Real Estate Association, Canada Mortgage and
                                                                          Housing Corporation, The Conference Board of Canada, Q2 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                    CBRE RESEARCH | 5
Canadian Multifamily Overview - Demand Drivers & Market Fundamentals Mid-Year 2019 - CBRE National Apartment ...
A Toronto & Vancouver Case Study
      The result of this growing disconnect between income                    rises to $156,600 and for a single detached home, to
      and home pricing is that home ownership has become a                    $195,700. Environics Analytics estimates 2019 median
      challenge for many Canadians living in major cities. This               household income for region to be only $84,900 before
      is especially true in Toronto and Vancouver where home                  income taxes.
      prices have risen to be the highest in the nation.
                                                                              In the City of Vancouver, this gap is even more
      Based on recent home resale prices in the City of                       pronounced. The income requirements for single
      Toronto, it would require a household income of                         detached or attached homes are $315,700 and $145,800,
      $115,400 per year to afford mortgage payments for an                    respectively, yet the median before-tax household income
      average condo. For a semi-detached home, this figure                    for the region is only $82,100.

      Figure 11-A: City of Toronto Housing Affordability Requirements

                                                                                                                     Calculated assuming a 33%
                                                                                                                     allocation of income towards
                      Single         $195,700/yr                                                                     housing, 20% down payment, 25
                   Detached
                                                                                                                     year amortization period, 3.19%
                                                                                                                     fixed mortgage, 2019 City of
                                                                                                                     Toronto property tax rates, & typical
              Semi-Detached          $156,600/yr                                                                     condo fees.
                                                                                                                     Average price for 416 area for
                                                                                                                     detached, semi-detached and
                      Condo          $115,400/yr                                                                     condo apartment.
                                                                                                                     Source: CBRE Research, Toronto
                                                                                                                     Real Estate Board (July 2019),
      GTA Median Household                                                                                           Bank of Canada, City of Toronto,
      Income, before Income          $84,900/yr                                                                      Environics Analytics, 2019.
                       Taxes

                                $0       $50,000   $100,000   $150,000   $200,000   $250,000   $300,000   $350,000
                                                    AFTER TAX SALARY REQUIREMENTS

                                $0       $50,000   $100,000   $150,000   $200,000   $250,000   $300,000   $350,000

      Figure 11-B: City of Vancouver Housing Affordability Requirements

                                                                                                                     Calculated assuming a 33%
                                                                                                                     allocation of income towards
                      Single         $315,700/yr                                                                     housing, 20% down payment, 25
                   Detached                                                                                          year amortization period, 3.19%
                                                                                                                     fixed mortgage, 2019 City of
                                                                                                                     Vancouver property tax rates, &
                    Attached         $145,800/yr                                                                     typical condo fees.
                                                                                                                     Average of benchmark price for
                                                                                                                     Vancouver East and Vancouver
                                                                                                                     West areas. Consistent with
                      Condo          $112,100/yr
                                $0       $50,000   $100,000   $150,000   $200,000   $250,000   $300,000   $350,000   REBGV methodology, townhouse
                                                                                                                     benchmark used in place of
      GVA Median Household                                                                                           attached benchmark.
       Income, before Income         $82,100/yr                                                                      Source: CBRE Research, Real Estate
                        Taxes                                                                                        Board of Greater Vancouver
                                                                                                                     (July 2019), Bank of Canada,
                                $0       $50,000   $100,000   $150,000   $200,000   $250,000   $300,000   $350,000   City of Vancouver, Environics
                                                                                                                     Analytics, 2019.
                                                    AFTER TAX SALARY REQUIREMENTS

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                   CBRE RESEARCH | 6
Lack of Supply
On the other side of the coin sits supply of rental units.                             some exceptions. In Montreal there are only seven people
Outside a few exceptions, rental inventories in major                                  per unit of multifamily housing, while in Halifax, London
Canadian markets are limited compared to their global                                  and Winnipeg this ratio climbs no higher than 14.
peers. The largest rental market in Canada is Montreal
                                                                                       The primary reason for the low multifamily inventory levels
with just under 600,000 units, a formidable total. Toronto
                                                                                       in many Canadian cities is that high-rise developers in
follows with 313,000 units, slightly over half of Montreal’s
                                                                                       major markets have traditionally chosen, for a variety of
total, and then comes Vancouver with only 109,000 units.
                                                                                       reasons, to develop condominiums as opposed to purpose-
Adding secondary market rental units, privately owned
                                                                                       built rental units. The high cost of land and other financial
condominium rentals, to these totals closes the gap in
                                                                                       considerations have made rental projects comparatively
certain cases, but it’s clear that renters in most markets
                                                                                       less profitable in highly competitive marketplaces. In each
across the country remain underserved.
                                                                                       of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and
Factoring in the population base of each city sheds further                            Kitchener-Waterloo, over 50% of all high-rise apartment
light on the lack of rental housing. For example, there are                            units currently under construction are condominium units.
approximately 21 people living in the Greater Toronto Area                             In Toronto, 89.1% of high-rise units under construction are
(GTA) for every unit of purpose-built rental housing. When                             condominiums, while in Vancouver this figure is 75.9%.
secondary market rentals are included, this figure drops                               Unsurprisingly, markets with greater rental inventories,
to a more reasonable, but still high, 15. These figures are                            namely Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg and London, have
similar in the metropolitan areas of each of Vancouver,                                much more balanced construction environments. In
Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Waterloo. For reference,                                Montreal, London and Winnipeg between 57.5% and 66.0%
the number of persons per rental unit is 7 in New York, 9 in                           of new high-rise units under construction are purpose-built
Los Angeles and 13 in Chicago. While this metric reflects                              rentals, while in Halifax this number is as high as 92.4%.
poorly on many of the larger Canadian markets, there are

Figure 12: Rental Supply-Demand Imbalance
Rental Inventory (units)                                                                                                                    Persons per Rental Unit
700,000                                                                                                                                                         45.0
                                                                                                                                                                40.0
600,000                                                                                                                                    x38
                                                                                                                                                                35.0
500,000
                                                                                                                                                                30.0
400,000                                                                                                                                                         25.0
                                                      x24                                                                                  x24
                                                                                 x22
300,000                                 x21                       x21                                                                                           20.0
                                                                                 x19
                                                      x15         x16                                                                                    x15    15.0
                                         x15                                                   x14
200,000                                                                                                                      x12
                                                                                               x13                                                       x14    10.0
                          x7                                                                                 x9              x11
100,000                   x7                                                                                 x8                                                 5.0
         -                                                                                                                                                      0.0
                 Montreal      Toronto         Vancouver    Edmonton       Ottawa       Winnipeg       Halifax          London        Calgary     Waterloo

             Primary Market Inventory    Secondary Market Inventory      Persons per Unit of Primary Rental Inventory     Persons per Unit of Total Rental Inventory
                                                                          Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, October 2018.

Figure 13: High Rise Residential U/C Inventories
Units U/C
60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

     0
               Toronto       Vancouver         Montreal      Calgary       Edmonton         Ottawa        Winnipeg          Halifax        London         Waterloo
                                                                       Condo   Purpose-Built Rental
                                                                               Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Q2 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                         CBRE RESEARCH | 7
LACK OF SUPPLY - CONTINUED
With limited affordable housing options, a large share of                                         variety of government programs are beginning to shift the
prospective renters are being serviced by the secondary                                           tides. The share of rental units as a percentage of the total
rental market; condominium rentals. In addition to being                                          high-rise units under construction has been increasing
significantly more affordable than condominium rentals,                                           steadily over the last five years. While still not fully balanced,
multifamily units also offer better security in terms of                                          rental’s share of the new construction pipeline is now 35.9%
rental tenure. The combination of lower monthly costs                                             based on the most recent data.
and increased long term security has only intensified the
                                                                                                  Despite this slow shift towards more rental construction,
demand for purpose-built property units.
                                                                                                  new supply is not likely to meet demand for the
While supply of new rental housing not meeting demand                                             foreseeable future.
continues to be an issue, rental rate growth along with a

Figure 14: Comparison of Rental Options
Average 2-bedroom Monthly
        Rental rate
$3,000

$2,500
           $2,393
$2,000
                             $2,034

$1,500                                $1,649    $1,614            $1,579
                    $1,467                                                          $1,533
                                                                                                       $1,392            $1,385            $1,363
                                                                           $1,301            $1,272             $1,246
                                                         $1,210                                                                   $1,156            $1,179   $1,208          $1,200
$1,000                                                                                                                                                                                $1,087

                                                                                                                                                                      $809
 $500

    $0
               Toronto        Vancouver          Waterloo           Ottawa            Calgary           Edmonton           Halifax          Winnipeg          Montreal          London
                                                                    Condominium Rental                Purpose-Built Rental

                                                                                    Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, October 2019.

Figure 15: High Rise Residential U/C Inventory Analysis

Rental Units Under Construction                                                                                                            Ratio of Rental Units Under Construction
80,000                                                                                                                                                                                 80%

70,000                                                                                                                                                                                 70%

60,000                                                                                                                                                                                 60%

50,000                                                                                                                                                                                 50%

40,000                                                                                                                                                                                 40%

30,000                                                                                                                                                                                 30%

20,000                                                                                                                                                                                 20%

10,000                                                                                                                                                                                 10%

    0                                                                                                                                                                                  0%
        1990     1992        1994        1996       1998          2000       2002      2004           2006       2008      2010        2012         2014      2016       2018
                                        Rental Units Under Construction                        Rental Share of Apartments Under Construction

                                                                                        Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Q2 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                                              CBRE RESEARCH | 8
Part 3/
Multifamily’s
Enduring Appeal
The increased demand and limited supply within the                                     The continued tightening experienced over the last few years
multifamily sector have led to a tightening of the market                              has resulted in rapid rent escalation. Average multifamily
and record fundamentals across a breadth of metrics. As                                rental rates are at or near 10-year highs in practically every
highlighted above, the national average multifamily vacancy                            market. Meanwhile no Canadian city has seen their average
rate in Canada sat at 2.4% as of the CMHC’s 2018 data                                  rental rate figure fall since 2017.
release. This tightening has not been restricted to select
markets. Six Canadian markets are seeing vacancy rates at or
within 30 basis points of their 10-year lows. Vancouver and
Toronto continue to be the tightest markets in the country
with occupancy rates of nearly 99.0%.

Figure 16: Canadian Multifamily Fundamentals by Market
Vacancy Rates 10-Yr Comparison
8.0%

7.0%

6.0%
                                                                                                                                                                5.3%
5.0%

4.0%                                                                                                                                          3.9%

3.0%                                                                                                         2.9%             2.9%

2.0%                                                                            1.9%          2.1%
                                            1.6%               1.6%
1.0%           1.0%           1.1%

0.0%
         Vancouver       Toronto        Ottawa         Halifax          Montreal          London       Winnipeg      Waterloo          Calgary         Edmonton
                                                           10-Yr Low        10-Yr High       Current Vacancy Rate

                                                                        Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, October 2018.

Figure 17: Canadian Multifamily Fundamentals by Market
Rental Rates 10-Yr Comparison
$1,600
                $1,507
$1,400
                               $1,360
$1,200                                      $1,214
                                                               $1,125        $1,111          $1,070        $1,061        $1,057
$1,000                                                                                                                                   $968
 $800                                                                                                                                                           $794

 $600

 $400

 $200

   $0
          Vancouver       Toronto       Ottawa        Edmonton          Calgary         Waterloo      Winnipeg      Halifax          London          Montreal
                                                   10-Yr Low       10-Yr High      Current Average Rent per Unit

                                                                        Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, October 2018.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                      CBRE RESEARCH | 9
Not only are rents growing, but the pace at which they are          haven’t turned over, where potential rent escalations are
growing is also escalating rapidly. Over the decade preceding       bound by rent control regulations. In certain provinces
2016, multifamily rents in major Canadian markets grew              including British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, rent
between 1.9% and 3.4% annually. Over the last two years,            increases are capped at a prescribed value, typically linked
however, annual rent increases have averaged 7.1% in                to inflation. In units where tenants have turned over, rent
Vancouver and 5.0% in Toronto. Note that these figures              growth has been substantially more pronounced than those
include all purpose-built rental units, including those which       reported by CMHC.

Figure 18: Major Market Rent Growth Trends
Annual Rent Growth Comparison
8.0%

7.0% 7.1%

6.0%

5.0%                5.0%
                                                                                         4.8%
                                             4.4%                                        4.3%
4.0%                            3.9%
       3.4%                                                                 3.4%                           3.5%
3.0%                                                                                                                                 2.9%
                                             2.6%          2.7%             2.7%
                    2.5%
2.0%                            2.2%                                                                       2.0%
                                                           2.0%                                                         1.9%

1.0%
                                                                                                                                     0.5%
                                                                                                                        0.2%
0.0%
        Vancouver     Toronto      London        Ottawa       Montreal         Halifax      Winnipeg         Waterloo     Calgary      Edmonton
                                            Preceding Decade ('07 to '16)    Last Two Years ('16 to '18)
                                                                                                       Source: CBRE Research, Canada Mortgage and
                                                                                                                Housing Corporation, October 2018.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                               CBRE RESEARCH | 10
INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE
The strong market fundamentals have naturally attracted                                                   landlords have been hesitant to sell properties given the
new capital to the sector. National investment volumes                                                    overall strength of the asset class and considerations to the
for multifamily assets have escalated for four consecutive                                                capital gains implications triggered when assets are sold.
years, reaching an all-time high of $8.3 billion in 2018.                                                 Additionally, consecutive years of relatively limited new
Investment volumes through the first half of 2019 have also                                               construction have contributed to pent-up demand for core
been strong and the sector is currently on pace to reach the                                              multifamily assets in major markets. The lack of investment
second highest yearly investment volume total on record.                                                  opportunities and the competitiveness of an increasingly
Meanwhile, the buyer pool for the asset class has become                                                  sophisticated buyer pool has had major effects on pricing.
increasingly institutionalized, with major groups such as                                                 Based on CBRE’s Cap Rate Survey Report from Q2 2019, the
Starlight, Blackstone, Timbercreek, Realstar and Akelius                                                  multifamily sector had the lowest average cap rate figure of
making substantial acquisitions over the last few years.                                                  any asset class in Canada at 4.41%.

While this investment activity has been impressive, it is
likely that these figures would be significantly greater if
not for a lack of investment opportunities. Understandably,

Figure 19: Multifamily Investment Volume                                                                  Figure 20: 2018 Purchaser Profile Breakdown
Investment Volume ($B)
                                                                                                                            Institutional
$9.0                                                                                                                            2.5%
$8.0
                                                                                        $8.3B

$7.0                                                                                                                              REIT/REOC
                                                                                                                                    10.9%                Private
$6.0                                                                                                                                                   Canadian
                                                                                $6.3B
                                        $6.0B

                                                                                                                          Foreign                       Investor
                                                                        $5.7B

$5.0
                                                                $5.5B

                                                                                                                          Investor                       31.0%
$4.0                                                                                                                       12.9%
                                                $4.2B

                                                                                                $4.0B
                                                        $3.7B

$3.0
                                $3.6B
        $3.2B

                        $2.9B

$2.0
                $2.4B

                                                                                                                          Private Equity
$1.0                                                                                                                          16.5%
                                                                                                                                                Pension
$0.0                                                                                                                                          Fund/Advisor
        2008

                2009

                        2010

                                2011

                                        2012

                                                2013

                                                        2014

                                                                2015

                                                                        2016

                                                                                2017

                                                                                        2018

                                                                                                H1 2019

                                                                                                                                                 26.2%

                                   Multifamily          FY Pace

                                                                                                            Source: CBRE Research, Realnet Canada, Real Capital Analytics, 2018.
                        Source: CBRE Research, Realnet Canada, RealTrack Limited, Collette Plante, JLR Land Title Solutions, Real Capital Analytics, Q2 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                                        CBRE RESEARCH | 11
INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE -
CONTINUED
In major cities, assets now regularly trade for cap rates                    Figure 21: Canadian Cap Rates by Asset Class
below 3.0% due the belief that there remains additional                      National Average Cap Rate
runway for further rent increases, even despite rent control
                                                                             7.0%
measures in the nation’s three largest provinces. The
downward trend in cap rates shows no signs of stopping
                                                                             6.0%                                                                        6.39%
and should be further supported by an increase in access to
                                                                                                                                            5.94%
cheap debt brought on by the recent shift to dovish stances                                                              5.63%
                                                                                                            5.40%
by central banks around the globe. Despite multifamily                       5.0%
cap rates being the lowest in the country, the spread to
benchmark bond yields is above the 10-year average and                       4.0%         4.41%
has not neared a point where it would be prohibitive for
investors due to incremental upside in multifamily yields.                   3.0%
The recent landslide in global bond markets will only
intensify this dynamic further and should make investment                    2.0%
in defensive multifamily real estate assets an enticing option
for private and institutional capital alike.                                 1.0%
With fundamentals looking well-supported by economic
and demographic tailwinds, a strong investment landscape                     0.0%
and a sophisticated landlord community, the multifamily                                Multifamily     Office -         Industrial          Retail       Office -
                                                                                                      Downtown                                          Suburban
sector looks poised to maintain its standing as a sought-
after investment vehicle for years to come.                                                                                Source: CBRE Research, Q2 2019.

Figure 22: Multifamily Cap Rate vs. 10-Yr Bond Yields
Yield (%)
10.0%
 9.0%
 8.0%
 7.0%
 6.0%
 5.0%                             153 bps
 4.0%
 3.0%                                                                                                         354 bps                                   322 bps
 2.0%
 1.0%
 0.0%
            2004

                   2005

                           2006

                                    2007

                                            2008

                                                   2009

                                                             2010

                                                                      2011

                                                                                2012

                                                                                          2013

                                                                                                     2014

                                                                                                                2015

                                                                                                                          2016

                                                                                                                                     2017

                                                                                                                                                 2018

                                                                                                                                                          2019

                     10-yr GoC Bond Yield                 All Property Average Cap Rate                        Multifamily Average Cap Rate

                                                                                                                       Source: CBRE Research, August 2019.

                                                                                                           Note: 1) 2019 cap rate as of Q2 2019
                                                                                2) 2019 Government of Canada 10-yr Bond Yield as of August 2019.

CANADIAN MULTIFAMILY OVERVIEW MID-YEAR 2019                                                                                                     CBRE RESEARCH | 12
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C O N TA C T
Marc Meehan                                                Thomas Biglands
Director, Canada Research                                  Senior Research Analyst
+1 647 943 4205                                            +1 416 847 3241
Marc.Meehan@cbre.com                                       Thomas.Biglands@cbre.com

Disclaimer: Information contained herein, including projections, has been obtained from
sources believed to be reliable. While we do not doubt its accuracy, we have not verified
it and make no guarantee, warranty or representation about it. It is your responsibility
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