Randy North, left, and Sofia Sagastegui,right, of Capital Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. Courtesy photos

With a booming Miami-Dade County multifamily market, it's been rare to see large transactions because owners prefer to keep the rising income stream.

Yet Capital Commercial Real Estate Group Inc. broker Randy North and associate and agent Sofia Sagastegui, both based in Davie, closed the $23.3 million sale of the Silver Blue Lake apartment complex west of Interstate 95 at 1401 NW 103rd St.

Newcastle Invest LLC, an affiliate of Coral Springs-based KVR Properties, bought the three-story, 239-unit complex on 7.6 acres from 103 Silver Blue Lake Apartments LLC, according to North and Sagastegui. The transaction closed April 12 at $97,490 per unit.

“It's very hard to get apartment building inventory these days,” North said.

“In Miami especially and on the lake,” Sagastegui added.

Silver Blue Lake is named for the adjacent lake with the same name. Each unit has a panoramic lake view.

North and Sagastegui work daily to find sellers willing to trade.

“We tell them we have buyers and they are all, 'That's wonderful. But once you sell my property, what do you have for me to buy or to exchange into, and there's hardly anything around.' So they say, 'We are going to keep it,' ” North said.

Demand is heavy for multifamily properties, and South Florida occupancy will reach 95.5% this year, up from 95% last year, according to a Berkadia report.

Climbing rents have been good news for landlords and investors but bad news for existing tenants. Many renters' wages aren't increasing as much as their rents, pricing some out of their homes.

The regional average effective rent will increase to $1,606, up by 3.7% this year, according to the Berkadia report.

Rents at Silver Blue Lake, which was nearly fully leased at the time of sale, also will increase.

For KVR Properties, this was a value-add investment with plans for renovations and higher rental rates, North and Sagastegui said. The planned work includes exterior painting and installed an electronic entry gate. Once done, KVR Properties will up rents, likely displacing some of the current tenants.

“Because the proximity to Hialeah and the lack of apartments in Hialeah, they thought this is a perfect candidate” as a value-add investment, North said. “The rents will absolutely be brought up to Hialeah standards.”

Rents currently average $895 a month for one-bedroom units, range from $1,100 to $1,175 for two bedrooms and are $1,250 for three bedrooms, Sagastegui said.

Apartments are “just the hottest product on the market because of the occupancy, because of the demand,” North said. “Everybody needs a place to live and, as soon as we get something, it gets scooped up.”