NEW YORK CITY—Multifamily dollar volume rose 46% year-over-yearacross the four largest boroughs in the third quarter, reaching$3.258 billion, says Ariel Property Advisors in aquarterly report. It was the sector's best showing citywide sincethe fourth quarter of 2012.

The jump in transaction volume, while smaller, was nonethelesshealthy at 16%, with 213 deals of $1 million or more completed inQ3 across Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, compared to184 in Q3 2013. An even better result was the quarter-to-quarterincrease, with Q3 transaction volume improving on Q2 by 26%, whiledollar volume rose 74%.

“Third-quarter volume was buoyed by 12 institutional-level dealsin September at prices over $20 million, including threetransactions that were over $200 million,” says ShimonShkury, president of Ariel Property Advisors. Hesays it's unique “in that the summer months were primarilydominated by smaller deals and, consequently, deal flow in thethird quarter exceeded our expectations.”