Venice.
ESTIMATED FROM 2024 RECORDED SALES · RECOMPUTED OCTOBER 2026
Venice is the scarcity trade. Small lots, small buildings, duplexes through eightplexes on walk streets and the numbered avenues, and very little of it comes to market in any given year. Rents per square foot are among the highest of any submarket in this territory, and most of the stock predates 1979, so the Rent Stabilization Ordinance governs the income math.
Two things make Venice underwriting different from anywhere inland. The Coastal Commission sits over any material change to the envelope, so development assumptions that work in the Valley do not transfer. And owner-users compete directly with investors for anything small, which compresses cap rates against comparable buildings a few miles east.
Recorded sales by year
| YEAR | SALES | MEDIAN EST. PRICE | MEDIAN EST. $/UNIT | MEDIAN EST. $/SF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 16 | $1,949,998 | $936,249 | $1,041 |
| 2021 | 100 | $2,099,999 | $823,849 | $922 |
| 2022 | 97 | $2,270,000 | $825,000 | $1,014 |
| 2023 | 88 | $2,084,025 | $800,000 | $981 |
| 2024 | 104 | $1,931,750 | $752,456 | $950 |
~2,335 MULTIFAMILY BUILDINGS · 11,037 UNITS · 91% BUILT BEFORE 1979 (RSO-ERA)
NEWEST RECORDED SALE DEC 30, 2024 · RECOMPUTED OCTOBER 25, 2026
Coverage: the most recent recorded transfer per parcel over roughly the last five years, limited to sales that reset the Proposition 13 base year and to parcels assessed at $100,000 or more, so a building that traded more than once appears once, and earlier sales are not shown. Prices are estimated from the LA County assessor roll: the Prop-13 reassessment recorded at sale, deflated 2%/yr back to the sale date. They are estimates, not verified closing prices.
Latest Venice trades
Coverage: the most recent recorded transfer per parcel over roughly the last five years, limited to sales that reset the Proposition 13 base year and to parcels assessed at $100,000 or more, so a building that traded more than once appears once, and earlier sales are not shown. Prices are estimated from the LA County assessor roll: the Prop-13 reassessment recorded at sale, deflated 2%/yr back to the sale date. They are estimates, not verified closing prices.
What decides the price
Venice is the submarket where the regulatory overlay matters most and where a mistake is most expensive. The parcels sit in the coastal zone, so redevelopment and in some cases substantial alteration run through Coastal Act permitting on top of city entitlement, which lengthens timelines and narrows the buyer pool for any plan that requires demolition. Rents and land values are among the highest in the county while the rent-stabilized stock is old and tightly held, which produces some of the widest gaps between in-place income and market potential anywhere in Los Angeles. That gap is the asset and it is also the thing most likely to be mispriced in either direction.
Who buys here
High-net-worth private buyers, coastal specialists who already know the permitting path, and long-hold owners treating the land as the position. Very few institutional buyers, and almost no one underwriting a fast turnaround.
What is the average price per unit for Venice apartment buildings?
The estimated average is $824,046 per unit (about $988 per square foot). It is estimated from 104 sales recorded in 2024, the most recent year with enough recorded sales to average. These are not closing prices: each sale is priced from the LA County assessor's Prop 13 reassessment at the time of sale, deflated back to the sale date. A valuation of a specific building needs verified comps.
Who sells apartment buildings in Venice?
Shaya Lowenstein (Lyon Stahl Investment Real Estate, CA DRE #01942326) brokers multifamily and land in Venice and across Los Angeles. Free 48-hour valuations at https://www.shayarealestate.com/valuation.
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