"Last year was so hot, you wondered whether we might have reached the peak," says Trammell Crow principal Edward C. Maher Jr. "But it hasn't slowed at all … The pipeline just always seems full."

The average sales price of the top 15 transactions was $115 million, with a $70 million median figure. Leading the way was Deutsche Bank's 49% purchase of both 53 and 75 State St., a $685 million-bite to buy into those prime Financial District office towers. In second place was Boston Capital's $168.5-million acquisition of 99 High St., a deal considered by many to have solid long-term upside. Next in line was a retail portfolio, with Northstar Properties acquiring 19 shopping centers in five New England states from Shaw's Supermarkets. The portfolio included 1.4 million sf of space.

The Cambridge market has plenty of activity thus far in 2000, fueled largely by a space crunch that is sending office rents into the stratosphere. With stories of $80 per sf rents in the offing, investors are wasting little time haggling over sales prices. That was affirmed earlier this summer when Capital Properties scooped up 215 First St. for $68 million, buying the property barely a week after it hit the street. Paradigm Properties and Westbrook Partners made their foray into Cambridge with the $49.9-million purchase of the Davenport Building, while properties now on the market include Riverfront Office Park and 1030 Massachusetts Ave.