Edmonton’s population growth helped attract a flurry of investments in commercial real estate with the multifamily home and retail real estate categories leading the charge. Read More
Edmonton’s population growth helped attract a flurry of investments in commercial real estate with the multifamily home and retail real estate categories leading the charge. “It was looking pretty bleak for multifamily for quite some time, because there wasn’t any rental growth. So the last couple years have been a long time coming,” said Jandip
Article content
Edmonton’s population growth helped attract a flurry of investments in commercial real estate with the multifamily home and retail real estate categories leading the charge.
Article content
“It was looking pretty bleak for multifamily for quite some time, because there wasn’t any rental growth. So the last couple years have been a long time coming,” said Jandip Deol, principal of multifamily with Avison Young Edmonton.
Article content
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
In a recent Avison Young report, the commercial real estate group analyzed Edmonton’s 2024 market and found a few trends. The report noted that first and foremost, population growth favoured multifamily investment, that developers were ramping up for new residential projects, and that an imbalance in retail space supply and demand is leading to rising retail rental rates. Deol said the findings all relate back to the province’s population growth and are strong indicators for a real estate market set to continue rising.
Article content
Headline News
Article content
“There is a direct correlation,” said Deol.
Article content
“Population grows, the rental market prospers, and then, in turn, the single-family for sale market prospers as well.”
Article content
Alberta’s population growth has been a boon for the economy, and the commercial real estate investments only reinforce the effects of the province’s growth.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
According to the report, the greater Edmonton area (GEA) received a total of $4.8 billion invested in commercial real estate in 2024, which was up more than 25 per cent from the previous year. Within the total commercial real estate investment, the multifamily asset class hauled in the most money with $1.89 billion last year, which was 70 per cent higher than 2023. The momentum has continued for multifamily investment in 2025, with the first quarter bringing in more than $670 million.
Article content
Read More
-
Small investors play large role in Edmonton’s multi-family boom
-
Talk of the town(home): Row homes see strong demand
-
Advertisement embed-more-topic
Story continues below
Article content
The multifamily asset class, Deol said, spans anything from a six-unit property up to “new shiny towers in Downtown Edmonton.” He said that most of the current building is happening in the suburbs, where new builds ranging from four to six storeys are adding a significant number of units at a time.
Article content
Deol said that multifamily investments have risen as a reaction to rising rental rates. Having remained relatively stagnant compared to other big cities in Canada, rental rates throughout the province, including Edmonton, had room to grow. As people continue to pour into the province, many don’t buy into the real estate market right away, opting to rent while getting settled in the first year or two. With so many people flooding the rental market, rents are on the rise, which Deol said attracts investment in the multifamily class.