Who's Buying Boston MF? Everybody

BOSTON—One way to gauge the strength of a property sector is to survey the landscape of who’s investing in it. In the case of Boston multifamily, it’s telling that the sector is attracting strong institutional interest and, as Institutional Property Advisors‘ Philip Lamere pointed out at RealShare Boston earlier this week, strong local interest as well. Outside the center-city core, said Walker & Dunlop SVP Andrew Gnazzo, four of the five largest deals he’s seen lately have come from Massachusetts-based buyers.

Apartment properties locally represent a “great opportunity” on a risk-adjusted basis, said Biria St. John, EVP and partner with CBRE. Not only do the returns outpace those of all other commercial real estate, he added, but Boston’s economy is “very strong” as well.