San Diego multifamily sales have come to a standstill. According to JLL's Darcy Miramontes, there have been no multifamily sales since the onset of the pandemic. The halt in sales, however, isn't reflective of demand, which remains strong. Instead, the lack of transactions is indicative of the market uncertainty, particularly in the near term.

"Multifamily investment activity has slowed quite a bit. Most owners and operators are focused on operations, including tenant retention, COVID protocols and so on," Miramontes, managing director at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. "However, the appetite for investment in multifamily in San Diego continues to be strong and will be evident when more product comes to market."

Because there have been no transactions since the start of the pandemic, pricing trends and investor activity trends haven't yet emerged. In terms of investor trends, Miramontes doesn't expect to see a change from the pre-pandemic environment. "San Diego is unique in that we have a large contingent of private investors that compete with the institutional investors chasing multifamily in San Diego," she says. "This has been true for many years, and offers a diverse field of multifamily ownership across the county."