Sales of individual commercial properties rose 18 percent in the first half of the year, while portfolio transactions increased by 48 percent, according to Real Capital Analytics’ 2014 Mid-Year Review.

For the first half of the year, transaction volume totaled $184.1 billion, up 23 percent year-over-year and just below levels achieved in 2006. Retail property sales volume was up 57 percent, well above all other property types. The only sector to register a decline was the apartment sector, and that was due solely to major portfolio sales inflating the year-ago comparison.

Manhattan was the number one market, totaling $17.2 billion in transactions, an 8 percent change from the previous year. Two assets in Manhattan — Five Times Square and Time Warner Center — were the highest priced transactions in the country during the first half of 2014, selling for $1.47 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

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