Month-over-month, New York City multifamily transaction volume held steady and the dollar volume of those deals increased in April compared to March, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ Multifamily Month in Review for April.
April saw 38 transactions comprised of 53 buildings totaling $619.215 million in gross consideration. This represents a 12 percent decrease in transaction volume, a two percent increase in building volume, and a 79 percent increase in dollar volume compared to March, which saw 43 transactions comprised of 52 buildings totaling $345.917 million in gross consideration.
Year-over-year, multifamily transactions decreased 22 percent, building volume decreased 23 percent, and dollar volume increased 50 percent compared to April 2012, which saw 49 transactions comprised of 69 buildings totaling $413.142 million in gross sales.
Aside from a $400 million Upper West Side multifamily portfolio transaction that drove dollar volume higher in April 2013, the vast majority of sales during the month were less than $10 million.
“Despite low sales volume, multifamily prices continue to rise as high demand confronts few available properties on the market,” said Shimon Shkury, president of Ariel Property Advisors.
“These rising prices and the financing environment, which has seen interest rates starting to tick up in the last month, may give owners more of an incentive to list properties during the second half of the year.”
Manhattan saw eight transactions comprised of nine buildings and led the month in terms of dollar volume with $462.683 million in sales, an increase of 191 percent year-over-year.
Brooklyn was the most active month in terms of transaction volume with 15 sales comprised of 22 buildings totaling $73.136 million in gross consideration. The trades included several impressive sales in Williamsburg that sold for prices north of $350 per square foot.
