Pheasant Hollow complex in Plainsboro
New Jersey: AIG unloads thousands of Garden State rentals
The embattled insurance giant American International Group has sold over 2,000 residential units for $245 million in New Jersey in one of the largest apartment sales in the metro area, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The buyers — New York-based investment firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. and developer Vantage Properties — have signed a contract for the Pheasant Hollow apartment complex in Plainsboro, N.J., near Princeton.
The sale, which was brokered by commercial real estate firm HFF, is expected to be the first in a series for the insurance company. The firm is selling a portfolio of over 7,000 apartments that it brought from developer Kushner Companies in 2007.
According to real estate data firm Reis Inc., Central New Jersey’s vacancy rate fell to 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter, making it the seventh-lowest rate of the 82 metro markets that Reis tracks, the Journal reported. Meanwhile, another potential upside for the value of the investment by Vantage and Angelo, Gordon is the possibility of new transportation upgrades in the area. Amtrak has proposed building a new tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan, which would facilitate high-speed rail service and could increase the value of the Pheasant Hollow complex due to its proximity to the Princeton Junction train station.
Stamford added more new homes than any other Connecticut city from 2000 to 2010.
Connecticut: Housing stock on rise
For the first time since 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau found that Connecticut’s five largest cities saw a population and housing surge, the Hartford Courant reported.
Between 2000 and 2010, the 10-year period that the most recent census studied, the population surged 5 percent in New Haven, 4.7 percent in Stamford, 3.4 percent in Bridgeport, 2.9 percent in Waterbury and 2.6 percent in Hartford. That made for a total gain of 23,000 residents for all five cities — making up 13 percent of the state’s growth.
With the population increase came an uptick in housing.
The five cities added 10,269 additional residential units over the decade — or approximately 10 percent of the total housing growth in the state. Stamford, which has a population of just over 122,000, added more new homes than any other city in the state, with 3,256 new residential units since 2000.
Long Island: Mixed signals for L.I.’s residential market
The most recent reports for Long Island are sending mixed signals about the future of the residential market there.
According to stats from the MLS of Long Island, the median price for a home jumped 1.4 percent to $355,000 between February 2010 and 2011. But prices fell about the same amount from January to February this year.
Nassau County saw a 3.1 percent year-over-year hike in the median sale price to $396,750. Suffolk County, meanwhile, reported a 7.7 percent decrease in the median price to $300,000.
According to the Long Island Business News, some real estate experts think the downturn is far from over.
The publication quoted Joe Mottola, chief executive of the Long Island Board of Realtors, saying many buyers are afraid to make a purchase.
“They will not commit until they become more confident in their employment status,” he said at an annual real estate panel in Melville.
Compiled by Omari Allen