Multifamily drives 28% jump in L.A. County investment sales

Investment sales picked up across Los Angeles County in July, led by apartments. Roughly 7.25 million square feet of commercial property traded during the month. NAI Capital, citing CoStar data, put the total at $2.1 billion. Square footage was up almost 22% from July 2025. Dollar volume jumped 28.5%, meaning the money is concentrating in more expensive buildings.

Multifamily dominated the month. A total of 3.43 million square feet changed hands. The price tag came to $1.22 billion. That was 58% of all investment in July. Sales volume ran 55% higher than a year earlier. It was almost 166% above July 2024. Average pricing rose 28.7%. That put the typical price at $376 a square foot.

Retail also posted broad gains. About 1.23 million square feet sold. The dollar volume came to $402 million. That was up 40% from a year ago. It nearly doubled the July 2024 total. Retail square footage traded has climbed 135% over the same two-year period.

Industrial faces a more complicated environment. About 1.33 million square feet traded in July. That was almost 71% higher than the same month last year. Dollar volume stayed about flat at $214 million. Average pricing fell 3.6%. It landed at $273 a square foot.

Office was the only major property type to fall on both dollar volume and square footage. About 1.26 million square feet sold. The total came to $262 million. Dollar volume was down 9.7% from July 2025. Square footage fell 23.4%. Average pricing dropped 23.5%. That put the average at $250 a square foot. Office space traded has fallen by roughly half from July 2024.

All this came with long-term Treasury yields sitting near multiyear highs. Money kept flowing into multifamily anyway. That suggests investors care more about rent growth than financing costs.

NAI Capital said the relevant question is where the capital goes, not just whether investment activity is up. The relationship among square footage, dollar volume, and pricing points to the answer.

Multifamily led the month. Retail gained ground. Office lagged. The 28.5% jump in dollars against a 22% gain in square footage means the buildings that traded were worth more, not just that more buildings traded.