Multifamily Sales Trounce Q1 2013, Fall Short Compared to Q4
By Al Barbarino April 30, 2014 7:30 am
reprintsCitywide dollar volume for multifamily sales in the first quarter eclipsed last year’s figure by more than one-and-a-half times, reaching nearly $2.5 billion, according to new data from Ariel Property Advisors.
Brooklyn led the way in terms of growth, with more than a fourfold increase in dollar volume to $786.66 million. Looking at total dollar volume, the brownstone borough nearly gave Manhattan, which led the pack with $878.7 million in total sales (a 156 percent increase from last year), a run for its money.
It was a “slew of institutional transactions” that led to Brooklyn’s surge in dollar volume, according to the latest Multifamily Quarter in Review.
Citywide, transaction volume increased as well, with 160 transactions comprised of 293 buildings compared with 106 transactions made up of 182 buildings last year.
Ariel Property Advisor’s president, Shimon Shkury, noted in a written statement that “impressive year-over-year gains in transactions, dollar volume, and pricing in the first quarter continued the trend we saw in the latter part of 2013 when large institutional deals dominated sales activity.”
Current activity suggests that the trend will continue, he added.
Northern Manhattan was the only weak performer on a year-over-year basis, with declines across the board, including a more than 100 million dip in dollar volume.
However, the citywide numbers were not impressive when compared to the fourth quarter of last year. The number of transactions and dollar volume were both greater during Q4 2013, when 207 transactions consisting of 392 buildings accounted for $3.25 billion in sales.
The report attributed the declines to the “seasonal rush toward closings at the end of the year.”
