a recent report on second-quarter transactions released late last week by Real Capital Analytics (RCA), a New York-based commercial real estate research firm. On the surface, the quarter’s numbers looked good compared to the listless 2009. Sales rose to $5 billion in the second quarter, putting the total at $9.6 billion for the first half of the year. That’s an impressive 69.6 percent jump in transactions over the first half of 2009. But dig deeper, and the numbers don’t look quite as impressive. In the first quarter, 534 properties of $5 million or greater sold. That’s only a 16.8 percent increase from a year ago. So what’s with the jump in prices? Basically, more trophy properties are selling. “I think that points further to the weight the larger transactions in primary markets are having on the market as a whole,” says Ben Thypin, senior market analyst at RCA, noting that most of the uptick in transactions came from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, while the West only saw slight gains in volume and pricing. (The Midwest was, once again, quiet.) The Big and Small Sell If they were properly located, both garden-style apartments and high-rises saw strong pricing and demand. RCA, in fact, says garden properties hit a turning point in the second quarter with property sales growing to $3 billion (192 properties) from $2.3 billion (144 properties) the previous year. “There were a fair amount of sub-6 percent cap rates for garden properties,” Thypin says. “The assets in quality markets are trading at low caps regardless of whether they’re garden or high-rise.” Overall, high-rises posted sales of $4.3 billion (198 properties) in the first half of the year, a whopping 192 percent increase over a year earlier. In the second quarter, volume fell slightly from the previous quarter to $2 billion, but the number of properties selling rose to 110 from 88. The reason for this—RCA said high-rises in the second quarter sold in markets other than high-priced Meccas such as New York and Washington, D.C. Distress Still a Dribble Meanwhile, distressed sales made up about 30 percent of all sales in the first half of the year, but only about half of distressed resolutions were via sales. The others were restructured or refinanced.
Cap Rate compression is back and in full effect.
While cap-rate centric institutional buyers mindful of market fundamentals are balking at cap rate compression, opportunistic private investors and opportunity funds with aggressive yield expectations and the underwriting to match are standing 20 and 30 bidders deep to pay what the market demands on a price-per-unit and price-per-square-foot basis. “Today’s buyer feels comfortable where the pricing is per-unit and is willing to buy on the prospect of upside with market recovery,” explains Cindy Cook, senior vice president in the Phoenix office of apartment brokerage firm Colliers International, which recently brokered the sale of two 300-unit, Class B multifamily properties for $61.23 and $67.02 per square foot. “That’s why cap rates have been sidelined. It’s not a stable market, so it doesn’t make sense to value properties strictly on cap rates today. Today’s winning bidder is typically a guy that can walk in and pay all cash without a loan contingency. They’re not looking for a discount; they are looking to pay market price, and they have the cash to pick it up, and we are seeing it particularly with private guys, family trusts, and the opportunity funds that were set up over the past couple of years.
Southwest Florida Coast Broker Sales
Sale Date 02/2010 No. of Units 312 Sale Price $8.2mm
Sale Date 03/2010 No. of Units 360 Sale Price $29.5mm
Sale Date 05/2010 No. of Units 408 Sale Price $25.4mm
Sale Date 07/2010 No. of Units 360 Sale Price $29.5mm
Sale Date 07/2010 No. of Units 180 Sale Price $13.6mm
If you would like exclusive access to some of these off market opportunities. Feel Free to contact Mike Rivera Direct at 239-770-6257
What we are looking for:
Partners such as Private SEC registered Investors,Fund Mangers, family trusts, and the opportunity funds of private equity and hedge fund groups. We provide due diligence,Access to the asset before it hits open market, and asset management and property management as an operating partner.
