Brooklyn I-sales dollar volume up 74% in first half of year

Brooklyn investment sales climbed by 74 percent year-over-year, according to a new mid-year report from Ariel Property Advisors.

Borough-wide, there were 766 deals involving 1,083 buildings totaling $5.3 billion in the first half of 2015. Year-over-year, there was comparatively slight growth in terms of transaction volume – a 14 percent increase – and property volume – a 30 percent increase.

Despite the rise of demand in Brooklyn office space, multifamily sales dominated the borough’s tally, accounting for 60 percent of total dollar volume, or $3 billion.

The top deals included Peter Rebenwurzel’s $236 million Brooklyn-heavy portfolio acquisition and the $275 million purchase of 184 Kent Avenue by Kushner Cos., LIVWRK and the Rockpoint Group.

Compared to the second half of 2014, dollar volume was up by 59 percent.

Williamsburg and Greenpoint were by far the neighborhood leaders, with a total of $1.5 billion in transactions. Bushwick, Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant led the pack in property and transaction volume.

“Positive spillover effects are clearly emerging in neighborhoods to the south and east and we’re going to keep a sharp eye on areas like Sunset Park, Flatbush and southern Crown Heights in the second half of the year,” Jonathan Berman, vice president of Ariel Property Advisors, said in the report.

In the second quarter, Brooklyn multifamily sales surpassed Manhattan in dollar volume, with $1.13 billion in sales, and 110 building traded across 69 transactions.