Westlake.
ESTIMATED FROM 2024 RECORDED SALES · RECOMPUTED SEPTEMBER 2026
Westlake is one of the densest rental submarkets in Los Angeles: prewar walk-ups and mid-rise apartment stock west of Downtown, almost entirely covered by the city's Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Pricing here trades on in-place income and unit turnover math, with some of the lowest per-unit entry prices in the urban core.
Investors buy Westlake for the demand side: Section 8 and workforce-housing tenants, with Downtown and Koreatown employment within walking distance. The longer-horizon bet is reinvestment around MacArthur Park.
Recorded sales by year
| YEAR | SALES | MEDIAN EST. PRICE | MEDIAN EST. $/UNIT | MEDIAN EST. $/SF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7 | $2,199,998 | $339,999 | $429 |
| 2021 | 26 | $4,222,262 | $189,091 | $267 |
| 2022 | 34 | $2,009,999 | $243,750 | $310 |
| 2023 | 20 | $1,812,500 | $251,250 | $269 |
| 2024 | 30 | $1,611,930 | $275,000 | $332 |
~740 MULTIFAMILY BUILDINGS · 15,235 UNITS · 79% BUILT BEFORE 1979 (RSO-ERA)
NEWEST RECORDED SALE DEC 30, 2024 · RECOMPUTED SEPTEMBER 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 Westlake 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
Westlake carries some of the densest and oldest apartment stock in Los Angeles, nearly all of it rent-stabilized, much of it with tenancies measured in decades. Price per unit here is low against the county and that number by itself tells a seller almost nothing, because the operating reality, the deferred maintenance position and the realistic pace of turnover are what decide value. Soft-story retrofit status is a live question on a lot of this stock and an unresolved retrofit order is a direct deduction from price, not a talking point.
Who buys here
Experienced local operators who already run buildings in the area and understand the management load, plus long-hold family money. This is not a market for a first multifamily purchase, and a buyer who treats it as one usually does not close.
What is the average price per unit for Westlake apartment buildings?
The estimated average is $313,420 per unit (about $382 per square foot). It is estimated from 30 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 Westlake?
Shaya Lowenstein (Lyon Stahl Investment Real Estate, CA DRE #01942326) brokers multifamily and land in Westlake and across Los Angeles. Free 48-hour valuations at https://www.shayarealestate.com/valuation.
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