The selling price reflects the continued strong demand for prime rental properties in coastal areas of the Southland, where little new multifamily construction has taken place and skyrocketing house prices have scuttled the chance for many renters to buy a home. San Diego may be the tightest rental market of all, with a countywide vacancy rate of about 2% and many communities without a single room available for lease, real estate brokers say.

R&V Management Corp. runs several partnerships that collectively own thousands of rental units across the Southland. Diane Miramontes of Business Real Estate Brokerage Co./NAI, San Diego, represented R&V in the transaction. She also represented the seller, the private Norman C. Roberts Trust of San Diego.

The two-story garden complex was built in 1986, Miramontes says.