Brooklyn commercial sales improve

In Brookyln, sales of commercial properties showed significant recovery in 2011, according to a report by commercial real estate brokerage firm TerraCRG.

A total of 1,052 commercial sales closed for over $1.8 billion, an 86 percent increase in dollar volume from 2010, and a 35 percent increase in total number of sales. About 70 percent of the dollar volume increase came from institutional activity, the report shows.

Meanwhile, commercial property sales dropped to $6.1 billion in Manhattan in the fourth quarter of 2011 following more than $10 billion in sales in the previous two quarters, according to data from Eastern Consolidated, cited by the Wall Street Journal and corroborated earlier today by a report by investment firm Massey Knakal Realty Services.

While Manhattan sales activity was boosted in previous quarters by climbing commercial property values – Manhattan was surpassing most other national office markets in job growth and sale prices at the time — towards the end of last year, economic meltdown in Europe triggered doubts on behalf of investors, who feared a double-dip recession, the report says.

Despite fourth-quarter troubles, Manhattan commercial sales nearly doubled for the year to $31.2 billion.

Sales in the Manhattan hotel sector showed small gains during the fourth quarter, with an 8 percent increase to $1.03 billion bolstered by the sale of the Park Central Hotel last month, according to Eastern. – Katherine Clarke