West LA & Beach Cities Apartment Buildings: For Sale and Recently Sold

West LA apartment buildings average $538,315 per unit across the LAAA Team's 37 apartment sales among 65 closed transactions. Santa Monica properties average $516,920 per unit, while the West LA corridor near Sawtelle and Sepulveda averages $720,107 per unit across 3 apartment sales. Pricing in this submarket is the highest among the LAAA Team's Los Angeles markets, driven by ocean proximity, tech employment, and UCLA.

Cap rates in West LA and the Beach Cities average 3.83% across the 35 apartment sales with a recorded cap rate, within 65 closed transactions, with a range from 1.83% to 5.56%. This is the lowest average cap rate among the LAAA Team's LA submarkets, reflecting strong investor demand and limited supply. Santa Monica averages 4.06%, while value-add buildings in Palms and Mar Vista can reach higher yields once stabilized.

Santa Monica has its own rent control law, separate from the LA RSO, administered by the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. It covers units with a certificate of occupancy before 04/10/1979; the General Adjustment for 09/01/2026 to 08/31/2027 is 2.6%, capped at $70 a month (as of October 2026). Vacancy decontrol under Costa-Hawkins still applies: after a qualifying vacancy an owner can set a new starting rent, subject to the exceptions in the Board's Regulation 3301. Units with a later certificate of occupancy fall outside the local law; the statewide AB 1482 cap applies to those more than 15 years old.

West LA offers exceptional long-term appreciation driven by permanent demand generators including UCLA (45,000+ students), Santa Monica's tech corridor (Google, Snap, Riot Games), and the Westside's proximity to major entertainment studios. While entry-point cap rates are lower than other LA submarkets, high barriers to new construction support long-term value. CoStar's Market Snapshot on this page puts submarket vacancy at 6.7% as of 2026 Q1.

The LAAA Team has closed 65 transactions totaling $222.7M in West LA and the Beach Cities since 2012. Top areas by deal count include Santa Monica (23 deals, $88.7M), West LA (10 deals, $34.9M), and Westwood (6 deals, $28.9M). The team's deep Westside experience includes transactions from Pacific Palisades to Culver City.

West LA's apartment stock includes pre-war courtyard buildings (1920s-1940s), mid-century modern complexes (1950s-1960s), and newer transit-oriented developments near Expo Line stations. Common building types range from 4-unit fourplexes in residential neighborhoods to 20-40 unit complexes along major corridors. Many Santa Monica properties carry long-term controlled tenancies, with rental upside realized through natural turnover.