NEW YORK, NY – May 15, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — New York City multifamily sales remained strong in March, maintaining a healthy level of consistency from a very active February, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ Multifamily Month in Review: New York City.
In March 2012, there were 50 multifamily transactions in New York City comprised of 62 buildings totaling $392.365 million in gross consideration. This represents a 43 percent increase in transaction volume, a slight 6 percent decrease in building volume and a minor 3 percent decrease in dollar volume compared to February 2012, which saw 35 transactions comprised of 66 buildings totaling $404.335 million in gross consideration.
March 2012 figures were up 14 percent in transaction volume, 27 percent in building volume, and 88 percent in dollar volume compared to March 2011, which saw 44 transactions comprised of 49 buildings totaling $208.630 million in gross consideration.
“The March numbers reinforce our belief that 2012 will be a very strong year for the multifamily market,” said Shimon Shkury, president of Ariel Property Advisors. “From rising rents to the availability of financing to the scarcity of product, the scales are clearly tipped in favor of sellers.”
• Brooklyn. For the month, Brooklyn was most active in terms of transactions, leading with 22 buildings trading across 18 transactions totaling $68.999 million in gross consideration. This was a major improvement from February figures as it represents more than double the transaction/building volume and nearly three times the dollar volume seen in the prior month. March 2012 Brooklyn figures were also well above those seen in March 2011.
• The Bronx. With 12 transactions consisting of 13 buildings totaling $59.270 million in gross consideration, The Bronx also showed significant improvement from a lackluster February, which saw only three transactions consisting of five buildings totaling $13.7 million.
• Manhattan below 96th Street. Manhattan activity lagged somewhat from February numbers, but March remained a relatively strong month nonetheless. The borough saw 10 trades consisting of 15 buildings totaling $212.827 million in gross consideration. Compared to February (which saw several portfolio sales), this represents a 23 percent drop in transactions and a 50 percent drop in the number of buildings but all together it equals a marginal 3 percent decline in dollar. In contrast, Manhattan’s March 2012 figures represent a tremendous improvement from March 2011 figures.
• Northern Manhattan. Northern Manhattan sales activity declined somewhat compared to both the prior month of February and March 2011 figures. For the month there were five transactions made up of six buildings totaling $32.668 million in gross consideration. Notably absent from recent multifamily sales has been the neighborhood of East Harlem as trades have been highly concentrated in Central Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood.
• Queens. After two strong months of sales, Queens multifamily activity eased up a bit in March. The borough saw five transactions comprised of six buildings totaling $18.6 million in gross consideration.
Trailing 6-Month Sales Averages. For the six months ended in March 2012, average monthly transaction volume went up for the second consecutive month, coming in at 37. This is the highest level since April of 2011, a very active period for the market. The 6-month average dollar volume remained steady at $376 million in March 2012, the third month in a row that this figure has hovered around this level.
More information is available from Mr. Shkury at 212-544-9500, ext. 11, or sshkury (at) arielpa (dot) com. For a copy of the report, which surveys building sales over $1 million, please click here.
Ariel Property Advisors is a New York City investment property sales firm with an expertise in the multifamily market. The firm also produces a number of research reports including the Multifamily Month in Review: New York City; Multifamily Quarterly Review: New York City; Northern Manhattan Year-End Sales Report; Northern Manhattan Fundamentals Report; Brooklyn Year-End Sales Report 2011; and The Bronx Year-End Sales Report 2011. More information is available at arielpa.com.
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• Ariel Property Advisors (para.1)»
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http://arielpa.com/newsroom/report-MFMIR-Mar-2012
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Gail M. Donovan
Director of Communications
Ariel Property Advisors
P: (212) 5449500 ext. 19
C: (917) 3015706
E: gdonovan (at) arielpa (dot) com
