As publisher of the Real Estate News Exchange I’d like to invite you to read the debut edition of our newest publication Property Biz Canada.

Since RENX’s inception more than ten years ago it has been my intention to launch this publication.  RENX, and I, are now ready to pursue this new venture and I am delighted the day for publishing the first edition of Property Biz Canada has finally arrived.

Property Biz Canada will provide news and information about the Canadian commercial real estate industry.   It is original content that is to compliment RENX popular news aggregation service.

It will fill a void for news about the Canadian property business, a sector of the economy that has gained prominence over the past 15 years.

Securitization of property particularly with the introduction of real estate investment trusts (REITs) into Canada in early 1990’s have provided both the average Canadian and institutions a new investment vehicle.   Yield hungry investors have poured capital into property investments that have  delivered stable and reliable returns over the past 20 years.

All of Canada’s major pension funds have acquired major property companies and in the past year have increased the allocation of their available capital to this sector.  Pension funds own a significant portion of the Class A real estate in Canada and continue to grow their domestic portfolios.

Just as Canadians have recognized the value of Canadian real estate, so have foreign investors.  An increasing number of non-Canadian’s, undeterred by the high level of institutional investment in Canada, are participating successfully in the Canadian real estate industry.

Now that the real estate companies active in Canada, particularly those that are institutionally owned, have soaked up much of high-grade, high-yielding property, they are seeking opportunities elsewhere.  This is evident in our lead article in the first edition of Property Biz Canada about Ivanhoe Cambridge’s La Nova development in China.

Urban intensification is a trend that is forcing the merger between traditionally real estate companies and developers, the construction industry, infrastructure owners primarily municipalities and lenders or financial partners who can see large developments to fruition.  New business models are emerging that provide a stream of new developments, business models and issues of relevance to our readers.

Changes in the Canadian property business have generated an insurmountable volume of questions to be asked, stories to written and issues to be followed in this industry.  An aspect of maintaining transparency in any sector of the economy is to have an informed media who actively provide news coverage.   I see RENX playing a important role in this regard.

It is our intent, starting with this first issue of Property Biz Canada, to delve into providing the Canadian real estate professional fresh content and a new source of valuable information.

We look forward to your feedback and comments about Property Biz Canada.  Please send us your stories, news releases, pictures and tips about anything concerning Canadian commercial real estate and related topics.

Ann White – awhite@renx.ca
Publisher, Property Biz Canada
A RENX Publication

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 10:40 am and is filed under REOC - REITs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.