Canadian real estate investors among world’s most active

Canadian real estate investors were among the most active in the world in the first quarter, according to a study into capital flows from international brokerage Jones Lang Lasalle.

The brokerage said cross-border, direct real estate investments increased by 25 per cent from a year ago, with $37-billion of deals. The most active buyers were global funds, followed by investors in Canada and Singapore.

The report – which didn’t break out numbers for each country – said that commodity rich countries such as Canada will likely be active buyers in the coming years. There was a good example last week, when the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board spent $700-million to buy shopping malls in the United States and Germany.

“A rapidly growing share of the global commercial real estate investment market belongs to the high-growth emerging markets and to commodity-rich countries like Canada. Improving transparency and solid economic prospects will only add to this trend,” the report states.

Source: CTV.ca