ELMWOOD PARK, NJ-With nearly $99 million in New Jersey multifamily investment sales completed thus far in 2011, Nat Gambuzza of Marcus & Millichap has seen business rise some 50% over last year due to pent-up demand and lower interest rates, says Gambuzza, vice president of investments.

Gambuzza and multifamily specialist Lauren Federgreen of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services have closed 22 transactions – including one land loan sale – since January. The deals totals 1,290 units. “The market has heated up,” Gambuzza tells GlobeSt.com. “There’s been a lot of pent-up demand.”

The majority of transactions closed by Gambuzza and Federgreen involved private investors vying for smaller multifamily assets, distressed deals including loan sales and REOs, and large Section 8 housing complexes. Drawn by strong fundamentals and vacancy rates of less than 5%, investors in the sector include experienced multifamily owners, syndicators, 1031 exchanges and even some new partnerships. Prices have risen, as a result, also adding to the bottom line, Gambuzza says.

Transactions include: the $13.7 million sale of an 11-building, 172-unit portfolio in Rahway; the 70-unit Stoneybrook Gardens in Plainfield for $5 million; and a 1031 of Riverside Gardens, a 30-unit apartment complex in Rahway, NJ, at a price of $2,550,000 or $85,000 per unit, for the 80-unit Haddon Crossings complex in Haddon Township, in Southern New Jersey which sold for $4,900,000 or $61,250 per unit.

Stoneybrook Gardens was particularly interesting in that neighboring properties were in distress, Gambuzza says. As A-plus properties are snapped up, investors are looking to lesser projects. The result is that the boom shouldn’t stop any time soon. “Business will pick up or hold steady,” Gambuzza says. “We can see it increasing exponentially.”