Written by Zane Willman, Associate Advisor | CCG Real Estate Advisors
There's an uncomfortable truth San Diego multifamily sellers need to hear right now: the property you have listed may not sell this year.
The Problem
Multifamily transaction volume in San Diego County nearly doubled during 2020–2022, as artificially suppressed interest rates pulled years of future sales activity into a two-year window.
Deals that would have naturally closed in 2023, 2024, and 2025 got done early, while capital was cheap and buyers were aggressive.
Trailing 12-month sales volume for the county has dropped to roughly $1.8 billion marking a a 10-year low.
The Math Doesn't Work Right Now
Here's where it gets more concerning for anyone with a listing live today. Current active multifamily listings across CoStar and LoopNet total around $1.4 billion and that figure excludes assets listed by residential agents outside the commercial platforms (maybe adds a few hundred million more to that number).
Compare that $1.4 billion+ of supply against $1.8 billion in trailing annual sales volume, and the county is sitting on roughly 12 months of inventory. With more listings coming to market and half the year already gone, that's 12 months of supply competing for six months of remaining demand in 2026.
What This Means If You're Selling
An oversupplied market doesn't mean deals stop happening. It means pricing, marketing, and targeting the right buyers matter more than they have in years. Overpriced listings that would have found a buyer in 2021 on cheap debt are now sitting stale. This is exactly the environment where an experienced team with a proven sales process and a track record of getting deals done separates itself from a listing that just sits (Source ;))
A few things worth reconsidering if your property is currently listed or about to be:
- Pricing based on today's comps. Buyers are underwriting to current debt costs and current in-place income, not lofty pro-forma projections
- Marketing reach beyond the MLS. In a market this competitive, reaching the full universe of qualified 1031 and institutional buyers matters more than ever. Reference a previous article I wrote for a more in-depth look in the significance of marketing your multifamily property (Source).
- An honest read on days-on-market risk. Sellers deserve to know upfront if their pricing or terms put them at risk of expiring unsold and re-listing at a discount later.
The Bottom Line
Sellers who adapt their pricing and marketing strategy to the current marketplace will transact. Sellers who still have lofty 2021 pricing in mind risk sitting through 2026 and re-listing in 2027 from a weaker position.
Considering a sale in this market? CCG Real Estate Advisors specializes in helping San Diego multifamily owners price and position their assets for TODAY'S buyer pool.
[Schedule a call to discuss your property's is positioning.]
