HOBOKEN, NJ—Cap rates on multifamily properties have grownincreasingly aggressive in (fill in the blank). It wouldn't besurprising if the mystery market were, say, Manhattan, hotneighborhoods in New York City's outer boroughs or San Francisco.In fact, the market in question is none other than the Gold Coastof Hudson County, despite relatively few sizable properties comingto market.

“Over the past couple of years, we've seen a lot of investorscoming from more popular areas—specifically, Queens and Brooklyn,”Chris Cervelli, broker associate withMichael Cervelli Real Estate, tells GlobeSt.com.Although rents or sales prices have priced many would-be residentsout of Manhattan, “a lot of people work there. And to work there,you have to get there.”

That has long meant Queens and Brooklyn, Cervelli says, with NewJersey included to only a limited extent, until the “incredibleprice expansion” in the boroughs. Also in expansion mode at thesame time has been Hudson County's transportation infrastructure, afar cry from the days when, across large swaths of the county, “itwas two or three seats before you could get to a PATH train” thatwould complete the trip into Manhattan.