NYC multifamily market reaches record $19B in sales in 2015

Dollar volume soared 52 percent from 2014

Ariel Property Advisors
(credit: Ariel Property Advisors)

The New York City multifamily market had another record-breaking year, with dollar volume hitting $19 billion in 2015, according to a year-end report from Ariel Property Advisors.

With the help of the $5.3 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, dollar volume rose 52 percent from $12.5 billion in 2014. Building volume remained unchanged from last year at 1,402, while transaction volume increased a modest 2 percent to 781.

While Manhattan traditionally saw the largest multifamily deals, 24 of 46 sales over $50 million were outside the borough last year, and 10 out of 21 deals over $100 million occurred elsewhere in the city.

Manhattan still accounted for the majority of dollar volume for the year, with $10.9 billion in sales by the end of 2015. That figure is up 80 percent year-over-year and 145 percent from 2013. The area saw 316 building sales across 174 transactions, a 48 percent and 19 percent uptick respectively from 2014. Most of those deals were in the Upper East Side.

“With the economy gaining strength and global economic turmoil leading many investors to believe that interest rates will stay low, we remain confident in the market’s 2016 trajectory,” said Ariel Property Advisors’ Shimon Shkury.

The Brooklyn multifamily market continued to flourish in 2015, and the area had more building sales and transactions than any other area. Dollar volume reached $3.7 billion, a 54 percent jump from 2014 and a staggering 196 percent increase from 2013.

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Brooklyn had 428 building sales from 236 transactions. Building volume remained unchanged from the prior year, while transaction volume rose 4 percent. Nearly 70 percent of all multifamily sales in Brooklyn were over $20 million, compared to only 54 percent in 2014.

Sales in Queens reached just below the $1 billion mark, but dollar volume was still up 12 percent from 2014. The area had 120 sales from 73 transactions, including five sales over $50 million. Flushing saw the top two multifamily sales in Queens — not Astoria and Long Island City.

The number of multifamily sales in the Bronx was down slightly from 2014, but dollar volume managed to climb 5 percent to $1.7 billion. Building volume fell 15 percent to 288, and transaction volume lowered 6 percent to 175.

The Related Cos. made a major splash in the Bronx, scooping up 70 buildings in the past year, and making it one of the area’s largest landlords.

Northern Manhattan’s dollar volume hit $1.7 billion, as pricing continued to rise in the subsection. Building volume fell 14 percent to 250, and transaction volume lowered 13 percent to 123. A 21-building portfolio across Washington Heights and Harlem was the area’s largest multifamily deal of the year. Hillcrest Acquisitions purchased the 550 rental apartments from Galil Management in September for $148.5 million.