Oakland Real Estate - Oakland City Profile Geography and Climate
With an estimated 2005 population of 412,318, Oakland is both largest city in Alameda
County and the county seat. In terms of real estate, Alameda County's
Community Development Agency estimates that Oakland consists of 78,882 single
family units (attached and detached), 29,152 buildings with 2-4 residential
units (i.e., duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes) 52,532 buildings with five or more
residential units or more, and 456 mobile homes.
Oakland is bordered on the west by Alameda and San Francisco Bay. On the east
lie the hills of the Contra Costa range. One reaches Contra Costa County by
going through, rather than over, via the Caldecott Tunnel (background,
map).
Because of these hills, Oakland's elevation varies between sea level and 1500
feet. Alameda and Hayward lie to the south, Berkeley and Richmond to the north.
Oakland's climate has been ranked as the best in America by Rand McNally. Many
folks have heard Mark Twain's famous remarks about the area to the west: "The
coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Summer temperatures
are typically about 2-5 degrees warmer in Oakland. Because of its location by
the bay, nights often are foggy, but the fog typically burns off in the morning --
summers especially are typically cloud free and sunny.
Government
OK, I confess. I love Oakland government. What's not to love about the nation's
fifth most liberal city (in 2005),
a city where the mayor is both a distinguished Democrat and an avid
blogger whose blog generates a good deal of intelligent debate?
Of course, as a home buyer you're probably more interested in the departments
dealing with building and land ownership than with my partisan exuberances, so
here is a short list of the ones you're likely to encounter:
Planning
Department
Handles issues such as zoning and residential design review.
Building
Services
For building services, building codes and inspections, and permits.
Oakland Real Estate Market Updates
The links below will take you to our blog articles that discuss the changing market
conditions for Oakland Real Estate.
Market Update From September 21st, 2006
August’s condo market in Oakland was something of a numerical mixed bag. Of course “we all know” (those three little words that signify something coming up that many of us think we know) that the real estate market has cooled significantly from 2004-2005. And some of the condo numbers support this quite neatly. The expired […]
Full Post.Market Update From August 25th, 2006
Traditional wisdom is that when the market adjusts downward, the first segment of the market to feel the price drops is the condo market. Today I thought it would be illuminating to look at condo sales for July of 2006 in Oakland, to see how much the sales are off. Sure enough, the […]
Full Post.Market Update From August 7th, 2006
OK, I’m as willing as the next guy to admit when the market’s not going well. In fact, I write about it not going well a lot over in the Sacramento area, but I still manage to get some grief about not painting a dark enough picture.
You can’t please a pessimist. I guess […]
Full Post.Market Update From August 1st, 2006
July’s numbers in Oakland have slowed significantly from last year, but there still appears to be strong demand for those homes that buyers consider attractively priced. Even though unit volume sold in July was down 29% from last year (based on 347 units sold through the MLS in July of 2005 versus 247 in July […]
Full Post.Market Update From July 6th, 2006
Oakland’s real estate market in June showed some slowing from the same time last year, but the numbers overall were still fairly strong. Homes in Oakland are still selling for more than list price, however the intensity of the bidding war has slowed. Last June homes sold for 8% avoe list on average, while this […]
Full Post.Market Update From June 11th, 2006
May’s residential sales numbers in Oakland show a fairly significant slowing on all fronts from last year. Sales volume by units was down some 24.7%, based on 368 units sold in May of 2005 versus 277 units sold in May of 2006. With expireds being up from 28 to 83 at the same time, the […]
Full Post.Market Update From May 23rd, 2006
April’s sales figures for Oakland California residential real estate were down somewhat from last year’s numbers, but still have many indications of a strong market.
283 residential units sold in April, down 30.7% from the figure of 370 residential units a year ago. Appreciation was 10.5% from year to year on a median price basis, but […]
Full Post.Market Update From April 7th, 2006
Oakland’s real estate sales in March of 2006 were slowed slightly from last year, but the slowing is less than in other California markets.
The average home sold in Oakland in March for $613,962, or 102.8% of the average list price of $597,270. The median sale price was $530,000. Prices have appreciated 12.6% on average, though […]
Full Post.Market Update From November 2nd, 2005
Oakland’s real estate market roared along in October. Unit volume was off slightly, pushing inventory up, a development that’s hard to understand in terms of the other numbers.
The average single family home in Oakland sold for $625,838 in October, a 20.6% increase over last October’s average sale price $518,752. Cost per square foot increased an […]
Full Post.Market Update From November 1st, 2005
The table below shows the average prices for a single family residential home in Oakland California for October, 2005. This is based on MLS data for single family residential homes of all types (including detached, condos, etc.) for October, broken down by zip code. We’ve also included the appreciation in the average price since the […]
Full Post.Market Update From October 15th, 2005
Oakland real estate sales in September were quite strong. If there’s a real estate bubble bursting somewhere, we can’t prove it by our Oakland market numbers. 329 residential units were sold in Oakland in September, and although the total unit volume is somewhat less than last September’s 397 units, homes are selling slightly more quickly […]
Full Post.
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