Gebroe-Hammer Associates has completed 21 multifamily sales involving a combined 1,598 units over the past two months. — Courtesy: Gebroe-Hammer
By Joshua Burd
Gebroe-Hammer Associates is riding continued investor appetite for New Jersey’s multifamily sector, having completed 21 deals for a combined $269 million in the past two months alone.
The Livingston-based firm said the deals involve 1,598 units in 11 New Jersey counties, stretching from Sparta to the Philadelphia suburbs. Investors are seeking newly constructed apartments, value-add properties and workforce housing in the state’s urban, suburban and tertiary markets, the brokerage said, in an asset class that showed its durability during the pandemic.
“This phenomenon is powered by restored confidence among renters, apartment-property owners and investors and the fact that multifamily investments proved their resilience with limited exposure in the COVID economy,” Gebroe-Hammer President Ken Uranowitz said. “Widespread vaccination initiatives, the relaxing of COVID-related guidelines and an improved employment outlook have yielded greater clarity for multifamily investors and the economic recovery as a whole.”
Uranowitz said he expects the momentum to continue.
“With solid fundamentals and population demographics, projections indicate these multifamily assets have the capability to reach the highs of 2019 within the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.
Gebroe-Hammer’s recent deals have included sales in and around Elizabeth, Trenton, the Jersey Shore and western Essex County, along with municipalities such as Paterson, Passaic and Sparta. The firm noted that Union, Passaic, Somerset, Ocean and Camden counties have had the highest annual effective rent growth, citing data from Reis.
“This level of rent growth has had carryover into 2021 and positive influences on surrounding counties as well,” Uranowitz said, adding: “Inflation, interest rates and taxation uncertainties are accelerating deal flow and historic record demand for any and all multifamily asset classes, the likes of which I haven’t witnessed in over 46 years in the business.”
