AIG Investment Property

Report from New York:

"Acquiring investment property is based purely on how it’s defined--the investment and the income," Michael Fasano, regional manager for Marcus & Millichap in Elmwood Park, NJ, tells Globest.com. "In large part, how you buy those assets is leveraging a mortgage or financing, and as interest rates have climbed and underwriting requirements spread, bank requirements have changed and it’s put a lot of pressure on pricing.

"That said, as the constraints and the lending environment have evolved over the past 13 to 14 months, pricing has come down," Fasano says. "Apartment properties continue to trade, albeit at a slower pace and at slightly lower prices than a few quarters ago. Apartment fundamentals in New Jersey will soften in the months ahead, but remain strong relative to other areas of the country."

"If AIG were to put them all on the market on an individual basis, there would be great activity," Hammer says. "At the moment, there are very few buildings on the market where the sellers’ prices are realistic. New Jersey apartments have a wide range of asking prices. North Jersey could be more than $200,000 per unit for really nice buildings, but much less in Camden, Salem, Burlington and other counties."

Hammer adds, "The sale would have a very positive impact on New Jersey, but only if AIG were to sell at prices that made sense."