Broker sees balance returning to Calgary commercial real estate market

The Canadian Press CP Alberta

CALGARY - A commercial real estate broker in Calgary says some balance is returning to what's been an expensive market.With the downturn in oil prices causing companies to cut their head counts, more office space is coming available in the city's downtown core.Dan Harmsen of Barclay Street Real Estate Ltd. says the market seems to be closer to the bottom than to the top.Although it's a good time to be a tenant in downtown Calgary, Harmsen says there's been a reluctance to pull the trigger on deals.Barclay Street's first-quarter downtown market report says the vacancy rate was 10.3 per cent, up 2.83 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2014.A first-quarter market report by another commercial real estate firm, Colliers International, says the downturn hasn't run its course and vacancy rates are expected to keep increasing.