Philly Multifamily a Bright Spot in Market

PHILADELPHIA-Multifamily could be the most favorable sector in commercial real estate today, said speakers earlier this week at Incisive Media’s RealShare Philadelphia conference. And the local market here is no different, if not in better shape, than the rest of the country.

“In a way, we don’t realize how lucky we are in the multifamily sector,” said Robert Falese, a senior vice president at CapMark Finance, who said that of the $1 billion in transactions his Horsham-based firm oversaw last year, 98% were multifamily, up from 50% of a $2-billion volume the previous year.

In a condo market where prices are marked down between 5% and 12% and “nobody’s buying unless they have get a steal on it” more apartments will come to market, said David Grasso, president and chief executive officer of locally based Grasso Holdings.