Manhattan commercial property sales were $10.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 80 percent from the $5.8 billion in sales in the third quarter, according to the latest Manhattan Commercial Property report from Eastern Consolidated. A key reason for the surge was investor anxiety about capital gain increases that would be triggered by the fiscal cliff.
“We found that both buyers and sellers were eager to make the deal and have it close by year-end,” said Daun Paris, president of Eastern Consolidated. The report found that the volume of property sales also increased to 345, up from 318 in the third quarter. Retail property sales ticked in at more than $2 billion, a number dwarfing the previous record of $780 million from the second quarter and representing a 613 percent increase from the third quarter. Vornado’s $707.8 million acquisition of the retail space at 666 Fifth Avenue was the fourth quarter’s largest retail deal on record .
Multi-family property sales also had a big quarter, with sales of $3.3 billion representing more than a 100 percent increase from the third quarter. The largest multi-family deal was TIAA-CREF’s purchase of a 70% stake in the residential portion of the MiMA at 460 West 42nd Street from the Related Companies for $551.2 million. – Hiten Samtani