The $14.5-million sale of the Sand Cove Apartments in St. Pete Beach, Fla. last month isn’t a deal that would normally stand out amid the crowded field of mega-sales and portfolio acquisitions that occurred in 2019. What is eye-catching is that the sale price on the 72-unit property surpassed $200,000 per unit—the highest price paid for a 1970s vintage property in that market since 2006, according to Marcus & Millichap. Properties such as Sand Cove that are achieving record-high prices at the local, or even national level, remain a common theme in the investment sales market.
Although the commercial real estate industry has generally been slow to adopt technology, that is starting to change, particularly on the brokerage side of the business. Sell-side brokers are increasingly listing their properties, for sale as well as for lease, with LoopNet and similar online platforms that supplement these listings with property information culled from a variety of public and private sources. These sites have become popular with prospective buyers and tenants alike. Will these and other innovations lead to the disintermediation of the commercial real estate powerhouses?
The Wall Street Journal looks at how real estate start-ups have changed the SFR industry. Commercial property insurance prices will go up in 2020, according to Business Insurance. These are among today’s must reads from around the commercial real estate industry.
