Habitat for Humanity Manitoba Becomes Part Owner of Local Real Estate Appraisal and Consulting Firm Through Legacy Gift

Corporate Citizenship

WINNIPEG, MB (Treaty 1) – Habitat Manitoba has been Red River Group’s charity of choice for over a decade. Firm members volunteer at Habitat Manitoba home builds, provide complimentary appraisal services to the organization, and encourage clients to convert their loyalty reward points into donations.

In celebration of Red River Group’s 25th anniversary, the firm that offers real estate consulting, appraisal, and property management services wanted to do more to support Habitat Manitoba’s work to address on-going housing inequities in Manitoba. Red River Group’s shareholders have donated 10% of their shares to Habitat Manitoba – a legacy gift valued at nearly $125,000.

“Habitat Manitoba becoming a shareholder not only means that they will receive a portion of all company dividends, it also means long-term ownership stability and governance for Red River Group with one of the shareholders now being a not-for-profit charitable organization,” says Gordon Daman, President of Red River Group.

Habitat Manitoba will receive increased pro bono consulting and appraisal services from one of Red River Group’s 34 real estate professionals. For Red River Group clients this means each order will support Habitat Manitoba’s homeownership program for low-income families throughout the province.  

“It is exciting to see this innovative extension to the years of generosity from Red River Group,” says Jamie Hall, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. “We look forward to working with the shareholders and broader team of Red River Group in this new capacity,” adds Hall.


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Graph that has the vertical axis labelled as "Interest Rate" from 0-8%. The horizontal axis has years 2007-2021 labelled, and then a single point for Q1 2022, Q2 2022, Q3 2022, Q4 2022, 2023 F. Legend at the bottom includes: Avg. Cap Rate, 10YR Comm. Mtg. Rate, BBB Bond Yields, QoC 10YR Bond Yield. On the chart Avg. Cap Rate is the highest, and GoC 10YR Bond Yield is the lowest.

March 2023 – Industrial Real Estate Market Update

Industrial, Market Updates

Data from sales files shows us that the industrial real estate market has experienced strong growth over the past few years. Annual growth rates were close to 12%, far higher than the typical 2-4% seen in prior years. This growth has been driven by the combination of construction cost inflation, high demand, and low interest rates.

Capitalization rates continue to be influenced by interest rates along with market supply and demand. Sales data within our Firm indicates that as interest rates rise, capitalization rates tend to rise as well. With recent interest rate increases it is likely there will be upward pressure on market cap rates.

A chart from the Colliers International Quarterly Cap Rate Report from the fourth quarter of 2022 shows interest rates for commercial mortgages and bond yields relative to a national average of cap rates from 2007 to the end of 2022. The spread between bond rates and cap rates is currently quite narrow, further supporting a likely increase in capitalization rates if the future looks like the past.

In terms of industrial leasing, there has been strong growth in lease rates over the past few years. This growth has been driven by demand and falling vacancy rates. Lease rates have increased by around 6% per year from 2018 to early 2023, with most of that increase occurring since late 2021.

Vacancy rates have been trending downward over the past few years, with industrial vacancy rates at their lowest point in the past decade as of late 2022.

Industrial land prices have seen strong growth in some areas, particularly in the northwest part of Winnipeg that includes CentrePort and Headingley on the west side of the city. The southwest part of Winnipeg, including the Fort Garry Industrial region, has also seen strong growth. On the east side of the city, land values are lower, but there has been some appreciation in prices.

In summary, the industrial real estate market has experienced strong growth over the past few years, driven by a combination of factors such as construction cost inflation, high demand, and low interest rates. Going forward, we believe that the market will continue to see growth, but at a slower pace than in recent years.