Berkeley California City Profile

Geography and Climate

Oakland's neighbor to the North, Berkeley is bordered on the west by San Francisco Bay. To the north along the Eastshore Freeway lay Albany and El Cerito. Along the east by way of Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley residents enjoy access to Tilden National Park, the "jewel" of the East Bay Regional Park system.

Berkeley is the fourth largest city in Alameda County, behind Oakland, Fremont, and Hayward with an estimated 2005 population of 104,534.

Politics and Culture

As college towns go, Berkeley is perhaps more famous than most. The Free Speech movement at Berkeley was a watershed in the history of political activism and protest in the 1960s. Berkeley is the third most liberal city in America, according to Berkeley's own Bay Area Center for Voting Research. (On an unrelated note, Mayor Tom Bates recently met with Clifford the Big Red Dog to kick off a summer reading program. These days Clifford's looking a bit diminutive as big dogs go.)

Berkeley is also famous for -- paradoxically enough -- both homeless people and gourmet cooking. The Daily Californian tells the tale of Berkeley's homeless population, attracted by progressive attitudes of toleration and human kindness (so called "compassionate conservatives" may take note and hang their heads in oxymoronic shame). On the gourmet side, Chef Alice Waters has been called one of America's top chefs, and has gained fame both as owner and executive chef of the acclaimed Chez Panisse, and as founder of the Edible Schoolyard.

Market Update From August 6th, 2006

Berkeley’s strong numbers for July 2006 continue to amaze me somewhat, but on the face of it appreciation is flat at best.  The expired to sold ratio was only up to 27.9% in Berkeley in July, these are “buyer’s market” sorts of numbers (albeit not as good as last July’s buyers super-market numbers of 9.1%).  […]

Market Update From July 16th, 2006

As usual, Berkley’s real estate market in June outshone many of its strong-showing neighbors in Alameda County. Sure, expireds have “doubled” from last year, but when you realize that “doubled” means there were three expireds last year and six last year, and that the overall expired to sold ratio this year is an enviable […]

Market Update From June 25th, 2006

May’s numbers for Berkeley continue to show an area where the normal rules of physics and economics don’t apply.
Hey, what do you want, it’s Berkeley.
Someone forgot to tell the area buyers that we’re in a housing recession or a bubble or some such, because Berkeley buyers purchased 65 residential units this May as against 61 […]

Market Update From May 26th, 2006

From writing about the East Bay Real Estate Market over the last several months, one thing that’s become apparent in month after month is that Berkeley’s numbers either show a market very close to the peak, or that they simply defy any kind of gravity whatsoever.
April’s numbers for Berkeley are no exception to this rule. […]

Market Update From April 24th, 2006

Berkeley’s March real estate sales numbers are a study in contradictions. The cost per square foot actually went down a tad, with larger homes selling this March (1668 square feet on average) than last year (1425 square feet). Meanwhile, this March’s median price of $726,000 marked a 1.1% increase from last March’s value of $718,000.
At […]

Market Update From March 21st, 2006

Turning now to Berkley’s numbers for March, for the third or fourth month in a row now, Berkley’s strong sales in comparison to other markets continues to stand out. Thirty-one residential listings sold through the MLS in Berkeley in March, down less than 12% from last year’s sales volume of 35 units. (In other markets, […]

Market Update From February 10th, 2006

In January, Berkeley’s Real Estate market continued the strong showings that it had put in earlier, with just some minor softening visible on the expired to sold ratio. This January, 37 residential units sold in Berkeley, up from 35 a year ago. Meantime, in another sign of a healthy market, average days on market were […]

Market Update From January 10th, 2006

In last month’s look at Berkeley’s November real estate market, we saw how strong Berkeley’s real estate market was, and took the liberty of blaming the vegetarians.
Alright, so maybe that was a tad gratuitous.
Looking at December’s market, however, we see numbers every bit as stunning. So if the hot market really does result from vegetarians […]

Market Update From December 15th, 2005

The real estate market in Berkeley sizzled in November. Don’t these progressive liberals know they’re supposed to be slacking off and eating Turkey in November?
Apparently not. Folks in Berkeley were too busy buying and selling houses.
They must be vegetarians.
The average home in Berkeley sold for an impressive $508 per square foot in November, even […]

Market Update From November 8th, 2005

Berkeley’s residential home sales for October showed modest appreciation from last year, but days on market are decreasing and inventory remains low — both good signs of a healthy seller’s market. 49 residential units were sold in Berkeley in October, down from last October’s 71 units, but days on market declined from 22 days on […]

Market Update From October 19th, 2005

Berkeley real estate sold well in September, with sixty-four residential units sold at an average price of $732,094. The median sale price was $654,000, a 9.2% increase over September, 2004’s average of $670,656.
Both unit volume and days on market were down somewhat. Days on market averaged 25 days in September, down from 20 days last […]

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