While the San Diego commercial real estate market is very similar in nature to that of nearby Los Angeles, it does not share the same status as a port-of-call or airport hub. However, its lower cost of living has enabled it to become a strong force as headquarters for smaller companies ? making for short term office space lease rates to bounce back more rapidly than in larger cities. Downtown San Diego apartments and condominiums are suffering from oversupply due to the fall in housing prices across southern California. Commercial investors are tentatively purchasing residential properties in San Diego with the hopes that the city's hospitable climate will once again attract buyers to bring rates back up to stratospheric levels. San Diego commercial real estate is a good long term bet, but in the short term, it may represent a highly volatile investment.