NEW YORK — Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is buying 19 apartment buildings in three states for $414 million.

The asset management company said Monday that the purchase from Babcock & Brown Residential is for apartment complexes located in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Brookfield said the buildings are mostly in the Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham markets, which are expected to see strong economic growth and population increases. The company anticipates if economic and population growth occur that the buildings will be able to increase their rents and boost their occupancy.

The buildings will be managed by Fairfield Residential, a Brookfield affiliate.

Brookfield Properties, which is based in Toronto, finished at $38.69 in U.S. trading on Friday after rising to a 52-week high of $38.72 earlier in the session. They traded as low as $29.97 in August 2010.