The pandemic aside, multifamily investors have been strategically exiting the West Coast region in favor of growth markets in the Sunbelt. However, it is likely too soon to write-off the region altogether, which continues to suffer from a tremendous housing shortage, according to Edward Ring of New Standard Equities.

There are a myriad of reasons why investors have chosen to flee the West Coast, despite the fact that is continues to house some of the most dense metropolitans in the country. "For the last four years or so, the political climate in the west has turned off many investors," Ring, the CEO at New Standard Equities, tells GlobeSt.com. "Rent control, tenant friendly eviction regulations and, in the last two years, onerous COVID-19 rules that were perhaps designed with good intentions have created a lot of unintended consequences that most certainly have negatively impacted housing providers. Many investors are somewhat spooked."

While there is a clear capital trend out of California, Ring believes that is a mistake. "In California, greater Portland and greater Seattle, there is a tremendous shortage of housing and available housing stock largely doesn't meet the demand," he explains. "Further, that demand is coming from a highly educated workforce, a large segment of whom are working in global-leading tech and biotech industries, or are employed in jobs that support those industries."