A 4-storey walkup apartment building located at 6353 Royal Oak Avenue near Metrotown has sold for $4,930,000. The property was built in 1968 and contains 29 one and two bedroom units. The sale price equals $170,000 per unit, and a 4.4% cap rate. The building had been listed for sale at $4,980,000.

Valuations for office buildings in Burnaby have risen over the past ten years amid declining cap rates and rising rental rates. The average value for office building sales in the past two years has been hovering around $200 / SF.

This market is predominantly characterized by larger office complexes, interspersed with smaller local office and strata business park office. Newly built buildings in the core areas such as Glenlyon office park and Canada Way corridor have achieved values over $250 / SF, with older product in local residential areas and industrial areas reaching below $100 / SF.

Cap rates have generally decline from an average above 8.0% to decline below 6.50%; a trend consistent with other suburbs in Vancouver.

Investment activity in this market has been relatively constrained given a lack of available product. As we reported in July, Bosa acquired a sizeable office asset located just off Canada Way at Sperling Avenue, for $33,000,000.

In terms of new supply, Metrotower 3 is currently under construction and is expected to complete in 2014. The leasing market remains in favour of tenants with a reported Q2 2012 vacancy rate of 11.2% (source: Colliers).

Openroad Auto Group has purchased Translink‘s property in Burnaby at Lougheed Highway and Boundary Road for $19,174,000. The 7.413 acre property located at 2020 Boundary Road, is designated for commercial development incorporating industrial flex/office with potential service commercial uses. The property is ideally positioned just west of Brentwood Town Centre, a rapidly growing residential and commercial area. The site had been listed for sale; click here for a brochure.