SAN JOSE — A big apartment complex in San Jose has been grabbed by a Bay Area investment group that appears to hunger for multifamily residential properties amid a tight supply for Silicon Valley housing.

A unit of Pacific Urban Residential has bought the Sofi Waterford Park apartments in south San Jose, located on a busy stretch of Capitol Expressway near Snell Avenue, according to Santa Clara County property records.

“There is still a huge housing imbalance in the Bay Area,” said David Sandlin, an executive vice president with Colliers International, a commercial real estate firm. “More jobs are being created in Silicon Valley than we can house here.”

As a result, existing apartment developments and other housing have become increasingly valuable, making them choice morsels for real estate investors.

“You see that rental rates have been creeping up,” Sandlin said. “Obviously, Pacific Urban is forecasting continued strength in the Silicon Valley housing market.”

PMI Waterford, the Pacific Urban Residential affiliate, paid $194 million in cash on Dec. 20 for the apartment complex, the county documents show.

Sofi Waterford Park totals more than 400 units, according to a representative for the apartment complex.

The apartment development is located on the south side of Capitol Expressway near the corner of Rosenbaum Avenue, according to public property records. It’s also a few blocks away from a light rail stop near State Route 87 and Capitol Expressway.

Palo Alto-based Pacific Urban appears to have developed an appetite for South Bay apartment complexes.

In April 2019, an affiliate of Pacific Urban paid $132.5 million for the 271-unit Brandon at Riverview Apartments, located on Brandon Avenue near North First Street, and one of the busiest stretches of the light rail system.

“You are probably going to see continued increases in rents in Silicon Valley,” Sandlin said.

Other investors have grabbed apartment complexes elsewhere in the South Bay in recent months.

In August 2019, a unit of a firm led by famed real estate mogul Sam Zell paid $180.5 million for The Lex apartments, a 387-unit development in south San Jose on Lexington Avenue.

New York City-based Brookfield Property Group paid $292 million in October 2019 for The Village Residences, a 330-unit project in Mountain View near the corner of South San Antonio Road and El Camino Real.

In November 2019, the 340-unit Terra House apartment complex near Branham Lane and Snell Avenue in San Jose was bought for $145.2 million in cash affiliates and units of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

Employment trends bolster the notion that the Silicon Valley job market is robust at present.

Over the one-year period that ended in November, the most recent month surveyed by state labor officials, the Bay Area added 99,400 jobs, which was 22 percent higher than the one-year period that concluded in November 2018.

Santa Clara County is showing stronger job trends. Over the 12-month stretch that ended in November, the South Bay added 32,800 jobs, up a sharp 67 percent from the gains over the one-year period that ended in November 2018.

“In Silicon Valley, you not only are seeing strong employment growth, but the jobs that are being created include a lot of well-paying positions in tech,” Sandlin said.