The Garden State saw nearly $9 billion in investment property sales in 2023, but much of that came from unexpected counties.
The Real Deal examined property sales data of $100,000 or more across commercial, industrial, multifamily and vacant development land recorded by the Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren county recorders between Jan. 1, 2023 and Nov. 19, 2023, totaling just under $9 billion, to see where commercial money is flowing.
The lion's share of that volume came from Middlesex County, which sits across from Staten Island and recorded more than $1.5 billion in transaction volume across 413 transactions last year, surpassing Hudson and Bergen counties, which are directly across from Manhattan on the Garden State's Gold Coast.
East Brunswick Township was the largest contributor to Middlesex County's total, recording $234 million in transaction volume, most of which was driven by a single $166 million deal for a large vacant parcel of land near a string of existing logistics facilities along Edgeboro Road.
East Brunswick's total, which has a population of less than 50,000, was the fourth-highest among New Jersey municipalities, behind only the three largest cities: Jersey City, Newark and Paterson.
Hudson and Bergen counties ranked second and third for commercial real estate investment with total investments of $1.23 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. Monmouth County on the Jersey Shore ranked fourth with $1 billion, and Essex County rounded out the top five with $949 million.
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As expected, the list of New Jersey municipalities that saw the most commercial investment last year was topped by the state's three most populous cities: Jersey City with 320 transactions totaling $523 million, followed by Newark with 223 transactions totaling $409 million and Paterson with 160 transactions totaling $287 million.
East Brunswick came in fourth with just 28 transactions bringing in a total of $234 million, while the Borough of Kenilworth in Union County came in fifth with just 10 transactions bringing in a total of $214 million.
Most of Kenilworth's total sales came from just one sale, which was last year's largest commercial real estate transaction: Pharmaceutical giant Merck sold a 108-acre site at 2000 Galloping Hill Road to a joint venture between Onyx Equities and Machine Investment Group for $187.5 million in a leaseback agreement.
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