News
'FROTHY' MULTIFAMILY
October 13, 2011
| AllState Management Corp's COO Howard Grossman was an attorney in another life, so you know he doesn't mince words. That's why ears should perk up when Howard, who leads acquisitions and operations for the multifamily firm, says the pricing of apartments is “a little frothy.†|
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| Howard goes a bit further. Despite improving fundamentals, “Our on-the-ground view is that it's very expensive to buy product right now… and we would say there is a misalignment.†That's an eye-opening perspective from Howard, who will be one of our panelists atPhiladelphia Multifamily Summit on Oct. 26 at the Hyatt at The Bellevue (tickets are going fast, get yours here). In fact, AllState has not purchased a single apartment since 2007. Instead, it's been on the selling end, having just sold a 1,400-unit multifamily portfolio in Kansas City at a 7% cap, and two more properties (one in Orlando and a second in South NJ) currently in contract. “We just thought these were some opportune times to get rid of some non-core assets.†|
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| Another of our panelists at the multifamily summit will be Korman Residential's CEO John Korman, who has an equally philosophical take on the multifamily industry: “These are strange times.†Like AllState, Korman has been a seller in this market, recently selling the Stratford Apartments in Delaware. But unlike AllState, Korman is alsobuying where he can find deals, including its recent purchase of The Woods in Ambler, captured for a sub-6% cap. Still, with interest rates so low, investors will continue to aggressively chase product in the core markets, bidding “some assets up way too high,†he says. “Some of our equity partners have been more cautious of late, feeling that right now it's a little too hot.†Join us Oct. 26 to hear more from Korman and other top dogs by clicking here. |
