The Small Multifamily Report

Only 39% of Properties That Come to Market Actually Sell — What the Full 5-Zip MLS Dataset Reveals About the Real State of the Small Multifamily Market

In 206 small multifamily listings analyzed across Central Los Angeles this quarter, 79 expired or were cancelled without a sale. The market is not slow — it is selective. Correctly priced, well-presented properties are closing. Everything else is sitting.

This expanded edition covers all five zip codes that make up the Hollywood, Los Feliz, and Koreatown corridor — 90004, 90027, 90028, 90029, and 90038 — representing one of the densest concentrations of 2–4 unit residential investment properties in Los Angeles County. The combined dataset of 206 listings tells a more complete story than any single zip code can.

The headline number is 39%. Of the 130 listings in this dataset that attempted a transaction — meaning they went to market with an asking price and a broker — only 51 actually closed. The remaining 79 expired or were cancelled after failing to attract acceptable offers. Being listed is not the same as selling. The gap between those two outcomes is almost always pricing.

Expired listings in this dataset were priced an average of 13.6% above what comparable properties actually sold for. The average failed 4-unit listing was listed at $2,238,299. The average 4-unit that closed was $2,064,758. That $173,541 gap is the price of anchoring to other people's asking prices rather than actual closed sales data — which is exactly what this report is designed to provide.

The new construction premium reveals what buyers are discounting. Several 2015–2024 built properties in the dataset sold for $3.25M–$3.95M — premiums of 60–100% over comparable 1920s buildings. A 2024-built fourplex at 1754 N Berendo closed at $3,950,000. A 2016-built property at 5235 Virginia closed at $3,485,000. These numbers tell you exactly what buyers subtract from older buildings: RSO exposure, deferred maintenance, depreciated systems, and compliance uncertainty. Every dollar of improvement that addresses those items translates directly to sale price.

88% of the inventory in our coverage area was built before 1940. The 1920s decade alone accounts for over half of all properties analyzed. These buildings are 90–105 years old, fully depreciated, RSO-covered, and typically carrying decades of deferred maintenance. Their owners are almost certainly long-hold individuals — many approaching or in retirement — who purchased well below current values and face significant embedded tax liability on a sale. This is the audience this report is written for.