Off-market deals are increasing each year, thanks to rising competition and high pricing. Many investors are leveraging industry relationships to buy properties and curb competition, while many sellers are finding that they can get better pricing off-market. Michael Koshet, an off-market specialist at KW Commercial who recently sold a five-property portfolio in the San Fernando Valley for $51 million, expects off-market activity to continue to increase next year again.

“I am seeing year-after-year, more off-market transactions. Consistently, the volume has increased every year,” Koshet tells GlobeSt.com. “That is because sellers are realizing that they will get a higher price for their property off market than on market, and it is a faster process. The less voices in the room, the better.”

In general, deal volume for multifamily product has slowed this year over the record-breaking activity in 2015 and 2016, but Koshet says that off-market activity—at least for his business—is increasing because hesitant sellers are being lured to the sell through the off-market process. “I am seeing a lot more people that would not traditionally be interested in selling are now interested in selling through an off-market deal,” he explains. “People at this point in the cycle are responding better to off-market offers and are considering deals that they might not have considered last year.”