The three Philadelphia-area properties sold for $25.9 million.

PHILADELPHIA—In a clear sign of the strength of workforce housing in the Delaware Valley, three area multifamily assets in the region sold in a four-week time span.

The deals announced by brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap, involved properties in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey and totaled $25.9 million.

The three properties were all exclusively listed by Marcus & Millichap's Andrew Townsend, Ridge MacLaren, Clarke Talone and Daniel Bernard and closed within four weeks of each other.

The properties that changed hands were: Farrand Village, 165 units, Wilmington, DE for $11 million; Northridge Townhomes, 87 townhouse-style units, Pleasantville, NJ for $8.3 million and 135-137 North 3rd St., 16 apartments and two retail spaces, Philadelphia for $6.6 million.

No further terms of the transaction were disclosed, including the identity of the buyer(s) or seller(s).

"We are seeing a high level of buyer demand for workforce housing Class B and C assets, as well as urban trophy multifamily and mixed-use properties," says Andrew Townsend, first VP, investments in Marcus & Millichap's Philadelphia office. "Both product types are performing very well in the Philadelphia MSA due to the diverse and tight job market. Market conditions make this a terrific time for sellers and the depressed level of inventory, continued low interest rates, strong fundamentals, and increased buyer pool ensure the market for apartment assets will remain extremely competitive."

According to Marcus & Millichap's 3Q19 Philadelphia Local Apartment Report, multifamily is outperforming expectations due to extremely low unemployment and job growth in the Philadelphia MSA. Job growth is also fueling absorption of new product, primarily in Center City and King of Prussia. Vacancy is forecast to drop below 4% this year for the first time since 2006, which is notable given the continued delivery of new units. It is anticipated that 2019 will see the completion of 6,100 new units across the Philadelphia MSA—a 20-year high, the brokerage firm states.

"Multifamily investments in the Delaware Valley typically provide investors with an attractive yield and better regulatory environments than New York or Washington, D.C.," Marcus & Millichap's Talone says. "We are seeing an abundance of new, out-of-area capital coming into the Philadelphia market, which has created a new buyer pool. A number of our transactions this year were purchased by buyers that are new to this market."

Instant Insights /

Three Philly-Area Multifamily Properties Trade for $26M

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