prepared with insights from the Altus Group Commercial Sales Summary Report – June 26, 2025
By Saman Habibi
The Durham Region continues to demonstrate robust activity across all commercial real estate sectors. From large-scale institutional acquisitions to high-value retail transactions and multifamily investments, the first half of 2025 has painted a compelling picture of investor confidence, strategic land banking, and regional development potential.
This mid-year newsletter summarizes commercial performance across three key asset classes: Retail, ICI (Industrial, Commercial & Institutional) Land, and Apartments. These insights offer a clear lens into market sentiment, capital allocation trends, and pricing benchmarks that are shaping Durham’s evolving economic landscape.
🔹 Retail Sales – Market Activity & Landmark Deals
Retail real estate remains a stable and desirable asset class in Durham, with 23 notable transactions across Oshawa, Clarington, Pickering, Ajax, Scugog, and Uxbridge.
Key Takeaway: The region’s most significant retail transaction occurred in Oshawa, where a major regional shopping centre sold for $375 million. The 1.2 million sq.ft. property traded at $307 per square foot, setting a new benchmark for regional mall valuations in the eastern GTA. The acquisition was made by a large institutional real estate investor with long-term interest in retail redevelopment.
Other notable transactions include:
- Kingston Road, Pickering – Sold for $6.22 million at $480/sq.ft., demonstrating the strength of well-located suburban plazas.
- Main Street, Uxbridge – Achieved $356 per sq.ft., showing value retention in smaller town cores.
- Bond Street East, Oshawa – Fetched an impressive $587 per sq.ft., among the highest rates regionally, reflecting strong infill demand.
👉 Implication: Despite macroeconomic headwinds, prime retail assets—particularly those with redevelopment potential—continue to attract capital from private and institutional investors.
🔹 ICI Land – Development Sites Fuel Durham’s Expansion
With 25 land transactions reported so far this year, Durham’s ICI land market is experiencing significant momentum. Activity spans both large-scale acquisitions and smaller infill parcels, revealing strong confidence in long-term growth and intensification.
Top Sale: A parcel on Harmony Road North in Oshawa sold for $43.3 million, equating to a remarkable $2.58 million per acre. The property was acquired by a public agency for future institutional development—one of the highest land valuations in the region’s history.
Additional highlights include:
- Audley Road North, Ajax – Acquired for $31.5 million across 445 acres, signaling a long-range land banking strategy by a private landholder.
- Green Road, Clarington – Traded at $2.45 million for 1.15 acres ($2.13M/acre), highlighting growing demand for centrally located infill sites.
- Grandview Street North, Oshawa – A lower-priced acquisition at $2.78 million for 86.89 acres ($32,028/acre), likely secured by a public-sector buyer for future infrastructure or community use.
👉 Implication: As Durham’s population swells and infrastructure projects scale up, buyers—both public and private—are moving swiftly to secure land near growth corridors and transit infrastructure.
🔹 Apartment Transactions – Capitalizing on the Housing Shortage
Although only 7 multifamily sales were recorded in the first half of 2025, the data clearly indicates a strong appetite for rental housing assets in core Durham markets like Oshawa and Pickering.
Leading Transaction: An apartment building on Pickering Parkway sold for $12.8 million, pricing each of the 76 units at $168,421. The buyer, a private developer with a focus on residential communities, is likely positioning the asset for student, retirement, or workforce housing.
Other notable transactions:
- Bloor Street East, Oshawa – Traded for $7.35 million across 18 units, averaging $408,333 per unit, underscoring investor confidence in high-rent repositioning.
- Celina Street, Oshawa – Sold for $353,333 per unit, reflecting the strength of stabilized downtown Oshawa rental markets.
- Division Street, Oshawa – At $54,167 per unit, this distressed sale highlights the wide range in valuation based on building condition and tenancy profile.
👉 Implication: With rapid immigration, low vacancy rates, and limited new rental supply, Durham’s multifamily assets continue to outperform. Investors are targeting both value-add and stabilized opportunities with long-term upside.
🔎 Final Thoughts
Durham Region’s commercial market continues to evolve rapidly in 2025. The strength of transaction activity across retail, land, and multifamily sectors reflects a region in transition—from suburban periphery to a well-defined growth corridor within the Greater Toronto Area.
- Retail: Core commercial strips and large-scale centres are being re-evaluated as high-yield, mixed-use redevelopment plays.
- ICI Land: Strategic landholdings near infrastructure and future growth zones are fetching record-setting prices.
- Multifamily: Demand far outpaces supply, and the investment community is taking notice.
As we move into the second half of 2025, Durham’s fundamentals—strategic location, transit investment, and population growth—will continue to underpin commercial real estate demand.
For more data-driven insights or commercial opportunities across the Durham Region, feel free to reach out.
| Saman Habibi | DR Real Estate Group REALTOR®, CPA, CA |
| Right At Home Realty, Brokerage | www.thedrgroup.casaman@thedrgroup.ca | 905-449-4242 | 647-849-0996 242 King Street E Unit 1 Oshawa, ON L1H 1C7 |
