Northeast

An abundance of capital continues to flow into Northern New Jersey’s multifamily market, with most investors completing 2019 as net buyers and major institutions looking to remain active in 2020. Over the past decade, domestic and foreign investors alike have diversified into the multifamily space in Northern New Jersey and nationwide. The result has been a highly competitive playing field with limited opportunities. And with more capital in the market than opportunities to place it, many larger funds are now looking to make portfolio acquisitions in order to divest large amounts of capital at once. Brian Whitmer, Cushman & Wakefield Excluding portfolio deals, transaction volume for multifamily investment in Northern New Jersey reached $1.6 billion in 2019, marking a 38 percent year-over-year increase, with 4,846 units sold across 27 transactions. This rise in deal volume can be attributed largely to the “Mack-Cali Effect.” The locally based REIT made two major 2019 purchases in Jersey City — SoHo Lofts ($264 million) and Liberty Towers ($409 million) — that accounted for 41 percent of the year’s individual transaction volume. Buyer Patterns While larger institutions and REITs like Mack-Cali are active in Northern New Jersey, private investors still dominate the regional market. This …