Apartment building market remains strong in Vancouver.

Prices and total sales are up, but the number of transactions is falling. That’s the picture of Vancouver’s apartment building market, according to the Goodman Report, produced by David and Mark Goodman.

In 2012, both overall dollar volume and the average price per suite hit record highs, David Goodman said in the report. The number of building sales is down 17 per cent in 2012 from 2011, but Goodman said this is not for a lack of buyers.

Scott Brown, senior vice-president of residential project marketing at Colliers International, said potential buyers outnumber sellers for many types of property.

“Vancouver certainly has more prospective buyers for A-Class locations than sellers,” Brown said. “This is true for land and development sites in great locations too.”

We are pleased to have acted on behalf of the buyer in the sale of 1016 West 13th Avenue, an 11-unit apartment building in the South Granville area. The purchase price was $3,200,000 or $290,000 per unit, and a 3.0% cap rate.

The buyer was a local private investor.

Morguard North American REIT signs two deals in U.S. worth a total of US$633M.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Morguard North American Residential Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:MRG.UN) has signed a pair of deals worth a total of US$633 million to buy 6,474 apartments and townhouses in the United States.

Under the first deal, the trust will acquire a dozen apartment and townhome complexes including a total of 3,752 units in Dallas, Denver, Tampa, Fla., Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta.

The second deal will see the trust buy a dozen apartment and townhome complexes including a total of 2,722 units in Pensacola, Fla., Mobile, Ala., and south-west Louisiana from Morguard Corp.

The trust said it will assume about US$400 million in mortgages and pay the rest using other available sources of funds.

“Given investors’ exceptionally strong interest in apartments, it was only a matter of time before that interest extended to brokerage firms that specialize in bringing buyers and sellers of apartment properties together, and perhaps providing them with financing at the same time.

In a deal that closed on the last day of 2012, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage acquired Phoenix-based Hendricks & Partners, a national multifamily sales brokerage firm with 37 offices in the U.S. Berkadia is a commercial real estate lender and special servicer that was formerly part of Capmark Financial and is now owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment firm.”

View the full article HERE.

An 8-storey, 43-unit apartment building located at Alma and West 5th on the Westside of Vancouver has sold for $12,800,000, equivalent to a 2.9% cap rate and $298,000 per unit. The building was built in 1966. 2121 Alma Street had been listed for sale in November 2012.