The firm recorded its highest concentration of recent North Jersey transactions in Essex County, which spans an East and West geographic submarket. Within East Essex County, Gebroe-Hammer's brokerage teams closed 15 separate trades in East Orange, Newark and Bloomfield.

East Orange's transactions alone totaled 692 units. Sales highlights include 285 units spanning several buildings on South Harrison Street; a total of 199 units located at 7 Chestnut St. and 23, 33 and 56 S. Munn Ave.; and 28 units at 560 Central Ave. and 115 Evergreen Pl. Additional transactions involved 46 units at 115 Halsted St. and 51 units at 147 Halsted St.; 66 units at 157 Halsted St.; and 17 units at 116 Lenox Ave.

Each of the sales involved exclusive representation of the seller by David Oropeza, managing director, the firm's 30-year East Orange market specialist, who collaborated on the South Harrison Street portfolio sale with managing director Joseph Brecher, who secured the buyer.

In nearby Newark, Gebroe-Hammer's sales efforts were spearheaded by executive vice president David Jarvis. The firm exclusively represented the sellers and identified the buyers of 64 units at 784 Clinton Ave.; 50 units at 328 and 336 Roseville Ave.; and 23 units at 104 Montclair Ave., all in New Jersey's largest city. To the north, in Bloomfield, Gebroe-Hammer's brokerage team of Uranowitz, Nicolaou and sales representative Adam Zweibel also arranged the $3.05 million sale of 22 units at 42 Park Ave., just off Bloomfield Avenue less than 0.3 miles from Glen Ridge Rail Station.

Additional North Jersey sales included the sale of seven residential units and one commercial unit at 1211 Bergenline Ave. in Hudson County's Union City by Nicolaou and the $2 million sale of 22 units at 186 and 230 Ackerman Ave. in Clifton where vice president Debbie Pomerantz exclusively represented the seller and procured the buyer. She also was involved in the sale of the Lenox Avenue East Orange property as well as orchestrating the sale of a 36-unit building located at 89 4^th St., in Passaic.

“Across North Jersey, existing Class B assets are benefiting from the consequential effects of the latest wave of construction activity, rendering these vintage pre- and post-war, inventory-dominating properties in highest demand among investors,” says Uranowitz. “In many instances, before the ink has even had a chance to dry on the closing statement, new owners are moving swiftly to implement value-add capital improvements to upgrade units and bring them up to market-rate rents. Based on historical asking and effective rent benchmarks and projections, these new owners will see a significant return on investment and added value during the next two years and beyond.”

LIVINGSTON, NJ–Multifamily properties seem to be selling like hotcakes in Northern New Jersey.

In a market where almost half of the inventory was built before 1970, supply of for-sale product remains tight, as asking rents recently hit a 17-quarter streak of gains, according to Gebroe-Hammer Associates. Throughout the metro's seven distinct geographic submarkets, the Livingston, NJ-based firm has averaged two North Jersey sales per week in the last 90 days.

“As the economy heats up, rents and occupancy rates – particularly as they relate to class B apartment assets – are becoming even stronger,” says Ken Uranowitz, Gebroe-Hammer's president, who noted the firm's North Jersey market specialists have closed 24 deals totaling 1,147 units and more than $148 million. “Thanks to the metro's proximity to major employment centers, ease of major highway/mass transit access and lower rents as compared to New York City and its outer-borough of Brooklyn, tenants and investors are in hot pursuit of North Jersey's 223,000-plus total units.”

In the largest single transaction, located in northern Union County, Gebroe-Hammer sold a 230-unit garden complex for $55 million. Executive vice president Greg Pine and sales associate Gehane Triarsi represented the seller and senior vice president Nicholas Nicolaou procured the buyer.