The large space between the mid-rise building and the coach homes have infrastructure in place, substantial portions of which have been completed, to build 20 additional townhomes. ARA completed 85 property tours during the marketing.

Altman did not return calls seeking comment on the deal, but the firm is expected to finish the project and rent the units. The property is currently unoccupied.

Cash Doye, president of Denver-based Stout Street Funding, tells GlobeSt.com that small multifamily properties in South Florida are trading somewhere between 25% and 35% of the original cost. That, he says, is driving competitive bids.

“Florida has seen a huge wave of foreclosures, but you haven’t seen the population in Florida decline by a third or 25%,” Doye says. “There is a massive population that has entered the rental market because people don’t have the credit to purchase a home. At the same time, the combination of available debt and equity is pulling investors off the sidelines.”

Investors have become more active in adjacent Broward and Miami-Dade counties, but the pace of transaction activity in Palm Beach County has been slower, according to a report from Marcus & Millichap. While the county’s long-term prospects for population growth and greater economic diversification are still intact, buyers remain concerned over the effects of an unemployment rate near 12% and shadow stock on property performance.

“There is a huge shadow inventory still in Florida,” Doye says. “The foreclosure process in Florida is cumbersome. It’s one of the longest processes in the nation. The courts are backed up and overwhelmed. So there is a significant amount of inventory that’s not yet visible as competition.”