It has been a turbulent few years in the real estate industry, with the chaos of the COVID pandemic cooling before US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House reintroduced a flurry of volatility and unpredictability into markets. McKinlay says that while there was plenty of lessons to take away from the pandemic years, the seemingly never-ending onslaught of new challenges to contend with has left the real estate industry exhausted. He suggests that sticking to a formula that has served Centurion for decades will lead the company through what will undoubtedly be another prolonged stretch of instability.
“The current market volatility will further stress test, and I know there’s a lot of fatigue and in our industry in terms of, when is the tap going to go back on? When is there going to be sunlight?” McKinlay said. “But the correct thing is always to stick to your knitting. Do what’s knowable.”
With increased global capital interested in the Canadian real estate market, McKinlay sees potential to expand Centurion’s operations, particularly within the family and office markets. The Canadian REIT market has also historically seen less volatility than its American and British counterparts, another aspect that McKinlay points to with enthusiasm.
He says the pandemic was an example where certain real estate classes – particularly retail, industrial and office – struggled immensely, though residential remained a profitable proposition. Centurion manages its own leasing and property management, a hands-on approach that McKinlay says will continue to produce enviable returns.
“What’s knowable for us is that we are in the most resilient asset class; multi-family residential,” he said.
