Apts. Top NJ Buyers' List, But Industrial Heats Up

NEWARK-Multifamily remains the belle of the ball for investors in the Garden State as it is across the nation, agreed experts in the “Investment Sales Forecast” panel during the RealShare New Jersey Opportunities Breakfast held here Wednesday morning. Moderator Mitchell Berkey, co-chair of the real estate group at Wolff & Samson, offered some numbers illustrating the sector’s enduring appeal: 2012 was the best year for apartment construction across the state since 2008, with 18,000 units approved last year and a projected 20,000 more getting the nod by the end of 2013. However, panelists made it clear that investment sales in New Jersey don’t begin and end with multifamily.

In terms of its mushrooming popularity, industrial constitutes the hottest property sector right now, said Kevin Welsh, SVP with CBRE. He particularly favors industrial product in the Meadowlands, followed by the port markets and then the Exit 8A submarket. Welsh noted that rents have been appreciating significantly along the 8A corridor, which usually is the last to recover.