After a record-setting year and fourth quarter (Q4) of 2013 for medical office building (MOB) sales, a letdown was certainly in the works to kick off 2014.

And sure enough, the total MOB sales volume for Q1 fell 37 percent from the previous quarter, Q4 2013. But that doesn't mean Q1 sales were weak by any means, as the total volume of $1.75 billion ranks as the fourth best quarter on record, according to statistics supplied by research firm Real Capital Analytics (RCA) Inc.

It's also the best Q1 of any year included in RCA's MOB data, which dates back to 2001. The sales figures include only transactions topping $5 million.

While 2013 a record year for MOB sales, with a total dollar volume of $6.57 billion, it didn't start off as strongly as this year. Last year's Q1 sales totaled nearly $1.3 billion, meaning Q1 2014 topped that figure by about 26 percent.

The Q1 statistics were padded by the closing of the final two tranches of a four-tranche, $500.75 million transaction struck in 2013 between Rockville, MD-based Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: WRE), the seller, and Chicago-based Harrison Street, the buyer. The overall deal included the changing hands of more than 20 MOBs throughout Greater Washington, DC. The final two tranches of the transaction closed in late January for a total of $193.56 million.

Beyond that, Q1's deals lacked what could be considered blockbuster portfolio deals, as the 71 transactions did so at strong prices. According to RCA's data, the average price per square foot was $245, which is down from a PSF of $250 in Q4 of 2013 but which still represents a historically strong price per foot.

The average capitalization (cap) rate for Q1 was also strong, as the 6.7 percent cap rate was the lowest quarterly cap rate ever recorded by RCA. Only four quarters since 2001, including Q4 2013, saw average cap rates of below 7 percent.

As numerous professionals involved in the sector have noted recently, the current trend of such strong pricing for MOBs, which includes low, or compressed, cap rates, is being fueled by high demand for the product type.

In fact, a recent survey by CBRE Group Inc.'s national healthcare group indicated that would-be investors have allocated a total of about $8 billion for MOB acquisitions in 2014. Reaching such a volume in 2014 is unlikely, mainly because not enough desirable product will be put on the market. However, the total amount of capital allocated to the space indicates that demand remains as high as ever for MOBs and if enough properties are offered for sale, the volume for 2014 should be strong as well.