New York City multifamily sales went over the $1 billion mark in October for the second-straight month.
According to a monthly report from Ariel Property Advisors, dollar volume for multifamily deals climbed to $1.2 billion for the month – up 59 percent year-over-year from $735.8 million. This marked the fourth month in 2014 that deals surpassed $1 billion.
“The fourth quarter is off to a very strong start,” Shimon Shkury, president of Ariel Property Advisors, told The Real Deal. “Bigger capital is more active in that space than it was two or three years ago.”
The number of transactions in October, however, took a hit. Total deals fell to 57 from 81 last October. Deal volume also fell short of September, when 74 transactions involving 151 properties totaling $1.8 billion were reported.
Northern Manhattan was the dominant multifamily submarket in the city. The region saw 23 properties sell, totaling $553.8 million. A 1,677-unit East Harlem portfolio sold for $465 million, or $245 per square foot. That group of buildings is part of Urban American’s sale of its 3,962-unit Putnam portfolio for $1 billion. Only a portion of the buildings showed up in property records in the month of October.
Manhattan dollar volume saw a 19 percent jump to nearly $300 million year-over-year. Two mixed-use buildings at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue sold for $105 million.
Brooklyn and Queens also had a solid October. Shibber Khan’s Criterion Group sold a new apartment building at 12-27 Broadway in Astoria for $88.5 million, making it the largest multifamily deal in Queens for October.