Led by a near doubling in the average dollar size of transactions, year-over-year commercial real estate sales volume rose more than 150% in May, according to the latest release of the CoStar Commercial Repeat Sale Indices (CCRSI).

The average price of an investment-grade transaction was $33.2 million in May — nearly double the average of $16.9 million in April — while the average dollar size for general commercial property deals was $1.7 million, up slightly from $1.65 million the previous month.

The dollar volume of investment-grade sales also continued to rise significantly in May, jumping more than 191% on a year-over-year basis. Consequently, investment-grade sales comprised nearly four-fifths of the total CRE sales volume pie, jumping to 79.2% in May from 61.9% the previous month. General-grade property sales volume rose 62% in May from a year ago.

“The May pricing increase reported this week, combined with the robust increase in monthly sales volume, shows that investors continue to seek out commercial real estate during uncertain times,” said Chris Macke, senior real estate strategist for CoStar Group, Inc.

Macke said a number of large recapitalizations in New York City helped drive up the average dollar size of May sales transactions.

“This is good because it signals a matching up of the money on the sidelines with those who need it, but for whatever reason haven’t been attracting that capital to date,” Macke said.

Investment-grade property sales volume in the 10 largest U.S. markets decreased to 38.7% of total commercial sales in May, falling below the two-year average of 45.8%, CCRSI data showed. Yield-hungry institutional investors have extended their searches for deal beyond the major metro areas as bidding for top-tier properties has driven up pricing in the most coveted U.S. markets.

Read more of the report here.