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/// RESEARCH · MEASURE ULA

LA apartment sales over $5 million fell by half after Measure ULA

By Shaya Lowenstein, Lyon Stahl Investment Real Estate. Published October 20, 2026.

THE SHORT VERSION

In 2021 and 2022, buyers closed about 24 deals a month for City of Los Angeles apartment buildings of five or more units priced over $5 million. From April 2023, when Measure ULA began taxing those sales at 4% or more of the whole price, through the end of 2024, they closed about 11 a month. That is a drop of 52%. In the rest of Los Angeles County, where ULA does not apply and interest rates rose just the same, the same sales fell 23%.

Apartment building deals over the Measure ULA line, by quarterDeals of five or more units priced over the ULA line, City of Los Angeles against the rest of Los Angeles County, 2021 through 2024. The City line falls sharply after ULA began in April 2023. The table below the chart has every number.0255075100ULA begins April 1, 202320212022202320242021 Q1, rest of LA County, 33 deals over the line2021 Q1, City of Los Angeles, 58 deals over the line2021 Q2, rest of LA County, 41 deals over the line2021 Q2, City of Los Angeles, 59 deals over the line2021 Q3, rest of LA County, 48 deals over the line2021 Q3, City of Los Angeles, 68 deals over the line2021 Q4, rest of LA County, 70 deals over the line2021 Q4, City of Los Angeles, 98 deals over the line2022 Q1, rest of LA County, 57 deals over the line2022 Q1, City of Los Angeles, 84 deals over the line2022 Q2, rest of LA County, 65 deals over the line2022 Q2, City of Los Angeles, 73 deals over the line2022 Q3, rest of LA County, 52 deals over the line2022 Q3, City of Los Angeles, 57 deals over the line2022 Q4, rest of LA County, 48 deals over the line2022 Q4, City of Los Angeles, 70 deals over the line2023 Q1, rest of LA County, 34 deals over the line2023 Q1, City of Los Angeles, 76 deals over the line2023 Q2, rest of LA County, 29 deals over the line2023 Q2, City of Los Angeles, 27 deals over the line2023 Q3, rest of LA County, 38 deals over the line2023 Q3, City of Los Angeles, 23 deals over the line2023 Q4, rest of LA County, 50 deals over the line2023 Q4, City of Los Angeles, 35 deals over the line2024 Q1, rest of LA County, 25 deals over the line2024 Q1, City of Los Angeles, 23 deals over the line2024 Q2, rest of LA County, 45 deals over the line2024 Q2, City of Los Angeles, 42 deals over the line2024 Q3, rest of LA County, 35 deals over the line2024 Q3, City of Los Angeles, 48 deals over the line2024 Q4, rest of LA County, 58 deals over the line2024 Q4, City of Los Angeles, 42 deals over the lineCity 42Rest 58
Deals of five or more units priced over the ULA line each quarter. LA County assessor roll, 2021 through 2024.

The sharpest change is right at the line.

Deals priced between the ULA line and $1 million over it fell 71% in the City of Los Angeles. In the rest of the county the same price band rose 7%.

Just under the line the City moved the other way. Deals from $4.5 million up to the line rose 38% in the City, against rose 13% in the rest of the county. That is the pattern you would expect if buyers and sellers were pricing deals to land under the tax.

Owners rushed to close before April 1, 2023.

In the first three months of 2023, City deals of $10 million and up ran at 14 a month, up from 8.8 a month in 2021 and 2022. The rest of the county slowed to 3 a month over the same three months. Owners who could close before the tax started did.

After the rush, City deals of $10 million and up fell 52% from their 2021 and 2022 pace. In the rest of the county they fell 33%.

The whole market moved less.

Counting every deal of five or more units at any price, City sales fell 16% and the rest of the county rose 2%. In 2021 and 2022, 75% of City deals of five or more units were under $5 million, so ULA never touched most of the market. It touches the large deals, and those are the ones that went missing.

What the City's own records show.

The City publishes every sale that paid ULA. From April 2023 through December 2024 it lists 88 multifamily sales. Matched by ZIP code, month and price, 58 of them are among the deals counted here.

The count here is higher than the City's because it also holds sales that owed no ULA, such as purchases by qualifying nonprofit and affordable housing buyers. So the drop in sales that actually paid the tax is, if anything, steeper than the numbers on this page.

What this means if you own a building near the line.

For sales closing after June 30, 2026 the line is $5,400,000, and ULA is 4% of the whole price above it. A sale a little over the line can leave you with less than a sale right at it, all the way up to about $5.63 million.

If your building could trade anywhere near that range, how the deal is priced and structured matters more than the headline number. I can tell you where your building likely falls before you decide anything.

The tax itself, the current lines and the break-even math are in the guide How does Measure ULA affect selling an apartment building in Los Angeles?

DEALS A MONTH, BEFORE AND AFTER ULA
PriceCity of LARest of LA County
Price2021 to 2022Apr 2023 to 2024Change2021 to 2022Apr 2023 to 2024Change
Over the ULA line23.611.4-52%17.313.3-23%
Up to $1 million over the line5.21.5-71%3.33.5+7%
$4.5 million up to the line2.53.4+38%2.73+13%
$10 million and up8.84.2-52%7.14.8-33%
Every deal of 5 or more units93.278.4-16%79.380.8+2%

Deals of five or more units a month. Before is 24 months, after is 21 months. The first quarter of 2023 is left out of both.

EVERY QUARTER
QuarterCity of LA, all dealsCity of LA, over the lineRest of county, all dealsRest of county, over the line
2021 Q12105816633
2021 Q22335923541
2021 Q32966825648
2021 Q43509831770
2022 Q13368422957
2022 Q22917326965
2022 Q32625723652
2022 Q42587019648
2023 Q12037619334
2023 Q21832718829
2023 Q32072320638
2023 Q42243524750
2024 Q11942322625
2024 Q22584225245
2024 Q32764826135
2024 Q43044231658

Download these numbers as a CSV file. Reporters and researchers may use them with a link to this page.

How this was measured.

  • Every sale here is a change of ownership on the Los Angeles County assessor roll for a parcel with five or more units, from January 2021 through December 2024. The roll on file records transfers through the end of 2024.
  • The price is an estimate. It is the assessed value set at the sale, deflated back to the sale date, and it can differ from the price on the deed.
  • Parcels sold in the same ZIP code on the same day count as one deal at their combined price, because ULA is charged on the deal and portfolio sales are common.
  • A parcel is in the City of Los Angeles when the City zoning map covers it, or when its postal place is a City community such as Van Nuys or San Pedro. Parcels neither source could place are left out.
  • The ULA line was $5,000,000 until June 30, 2024 and $5,150,000 from July 1, 2024. The line moves each July with inflation.
  • Before means 2021 and 2022. After means April 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024. The first quarter of 2023 is shown on its own because of the rush to close.
  • This compares two areas over the same months, so higher interest rates and the wider slowdown fall on both. It shows what changed in the City compared with the rest of the county. It does not prove ULA caused every lost sale, and other City rules changed in these years too.

/// SOURCES

  1. City of Los Angeles Office of Finance, Real Property Transfer Tax and Measure ULA FAQ
  2. City of Los Angeles open data, Revenue Generated by Measure ULA
  3. Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor, secured roll, transfers through December 2024.
/// IS YOUR BUILDING NEAR THE LINE?

Type your address. You get the county record for it right here, and I will send you a value and how ULA changes your net if you want it.

Shaya Lowenstein, CA DRE #01942326, Lyon Stahl Investment Real Estate. Measured October 20, 2026 from the county assessor roll. The City's own ULA records list 88 multifamily payments from April 2023 through December 2024, and 58 of them match a deal counted here.