TORONTO—Although regional performance varies on a year-over-year basis, “The commercial real estate sector remains awash in capital; and despite varying global economic, political and property market conditions, including the ongoing interest-rate scenario, there is no better place to put your money than in hard assets,” says Mark E. Rose, chair and CEO of Avison Young. “In short, real estate has established itself as a real alternative asset class to stocks and bonds.”

That being said, the six major markets of Canada—including Toronto, where AY is based—saw Y-O-Y sales volume gains of 29% for the first six months of this year, while US lagged the year-ago period by 12%. Yet across the 54 global markets which AY tracks, including 38 in the US, key themes resound.

“Our review of commercial real estate investment activity across diverse markets, countries and continents revealed a continued pursuit of prime assets in gateway markets,” says Rose. “However, as scarcity of product and fierce competition are resulting in peak pricing in some of these markets, investors are continuously looking to diversify across product types and geographies, which means climbing up the risk ladder.”