Appetite from all quarters for commercial real estate remains robust as 2020 kicks into gear.

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. Solid occupancies and rent growth, positive economic and job growth and a further drop in interest rates are all contributing to robust buyer demand and price appreciation. “Across the board, what we’re seeing is that the pricing environment continues to be strong at the national level and across property sectors as a whole,” says Lauro Ferroni, head of capital markets research at JLL.