Whether you tally by total dollar volume or number of physical properties, investment in multifamily has continued to tumble in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from RealPage.

It's at the lowest level since the second quarter of 2020, the depth of the pandemic. But that also puts it at roughly half the quarterly average of 2019. "Nearly 1,040 apartment properties changed hands at a value of $20.6 billion during 1st quarter 2024, according to MSCI Real Capital Analytics," they wrote.

Overall dollar sales volume was down 25% from 2023 Q1, while the number of properties was down 26%. "This was well below the 4th quarter 2021 peak, when around 5,400 properties changed hands for more than $166 billion as the result of pent-up demand following the onset of the pandemic," they noted. "Recent activity was also well below the $42.2 billion quarterly average during the five years leading up to the pandemic (2015-2019)." Before the pandemic, since the first quarter of 2024, the value of quarterly multifamily transactions never fell below $21 billion.