According to the report, which was published by Burnham Real Estate Services, there were 1,148 multifamily properties with a total of 21,142 units sold in San Diego County in 2002. A figure this high has not been recorded since 1989 when 1,426 apartment assets containing a total of 21,794 units changed hands. In fact, the number of units that were sold last year marks a 45.5% increase over 2001.

"Investors eyeing our region's limited supply of available affordable housing and steady population growth funneled nearly $1.5 billion into the local apartment market in 60 acquisitions of $5 million or more in 2002, says George Carlson, a Burnham vice president and apartment specialist. "While the state of the stock market and low interest rates are clearly contributing to the flurry of apartment sales, the driving factor is investor awareness that there is a very real shortage of rental units to meet current and future demand."

In the last quarter of 2002 alone, there were 256 transactions, involving 5,384 units, Carlson says. Ten of these sales involved properties with 100 units or more, while the rest of the deals involved an average of 16.6 units a sale. "This demonstrates that both large and small investors are well represented in the current flurry of sales activity," he notes.