I suspect there was a language barrier here. For the whole world "apartments" means what the US refer as "condos". So, in short, L.A. needs a lot of "apartment

I suspect there was a language barrier here. For the whole world "apartments" means what the US refer as "condos". So, in short, L.A. needs a lot of "apartments"(world)/"condos"(USA). And you are right, "apartments"(USA) don't help.