Multifamily Investor Volume in Bay Area Exceeeds $8B for First Time Since 2019

Investors' enthusiasm in the Bay Area for multifamily is now back to pre-pandemic levels, according to a 2025 market report from CBRE. Sales volume in 2025 was more than $8 billion in 2025, a 9.8 percent increase versus the volume posted in 2024. Also, this marks the first time since 2019 that volume exceeded $8 billion.

The largest transaction in the fourth quarter involved Ascent Apartments, which traded hands for $322.75 million, followed by Hanover Walnut Creek, which went for $163 million. Coming in third and fourth place were the properties of mResidences and RBC Portfolio, which sold for $143.50 million and $129 million, respectively.

Investor optimism marked only one of the positive fundamentals for multifamily in the Bay Area last year. Another impressive stat was average rental rates accelerating by 4.3 percent to reach $3,194.

"Downtown San Francisco finished the year with the highest submarket rent growth of 11.9%(YoY), and East San Jose ended the year with the lowest rent growth of -2.3% (YoY)," CBRE said.

Also, demand exceeded the supply. Net absorption was 11,316, representing a 1.4x absorption completion ratio.

And lastly, vacancy dropped by 32 basis points to 4.2 percent.