US commercial deals jump 45% in dollar volume in Q1

2015's second quarter is shaping up to be the biggest on record

From left: Stephen Schwarzman and Janice Stanton
From left: Stephen Schwarzman and Janice Stanton

The total dollar amount of U.S. commercial real estate transactions are up 45 percent in the first quarter of 2015, bolstered by foreign investment.

Sales of multiple buildings or entire companies are driving the increase, Bloomberg reported. For example, General Electric has agreed to sell its real estate holdings to Blackstone Group and Wells Fargo in a $23 billion deal.

The second quarter of the year could be the biggest on record as far as property transactions go, according to Real Capital Analytics data cited by Bloomberg.

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“It’s so hard to get things on a single-asset basis,” Janice Stanton of Cushman & Wakefield told the website. “You’re starting to see larger and larger transactions.”

During the first three months of the year, commercial real estate deals totaled $129 billion. The largest deal of the first quarter, according to Bloomberg, was Blackstone’s sale of industrial building owner IndCor Properties to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, for $8.1 billion. [Bloomberg] — Claire Moses