The Avalon Apartments in Gresham are the latest transaction in a record-setting year for apartment building sales in the Portland region.(Courtesy of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler)

An apartment complex in Gresham has sold for more than $145,000 per unit, the commercial real estate firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler announced Wednesday.

Seattle-based American Capital Group sold the Avalon Apartments, a 225-unit complex, for $32.65 million. The buyer was Jackson Square Properties, a private real estate investment company in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The apartments, completed in 2003, are at 20300 S.E. Morrison Terrace. The units average 913 square feet, and amenities include a swimming pool, billiard room and fitness center. The sale price reflects a value of nearly $159 per square foot.

The website ForRent.com shows that one-bedroom apartments in the complex are renting for more than $1,000 per month.

The sale is the latest in a record-setting year for apartment building purchases in the Portland region. Apartment appraiser Mark Barry said in October that the area was on track for $2.1 billion in sales on 250 properties. Barry said then that buildings this year were selling for an average of $89,000 per unit and $125 per square foot.

The trend has coincided with steeply rising rents and low vacancies for renters and potential renters.

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