East Oakland, California Multifamily Market Report
Market Overview
East Oakland’s multifamily submarket is experiencing notable changes. The submarket has faced challenges in terms of rent growth due to the presence of aging apartment complexes and relatively limited incomes. However, recent developments, such as the Brooklyn Basin project, with its mix of residential units and public waterfront spaces, are expected to significantly reshape the submarket upon completion and introduce higher-quality rents. Investment volume hit a record high in 2022, but 2023 faced challenges due to the Federal Reserve’s efforts to combat inflation.
Highlights
- East Oakland offers several strong points that may attract renters, such as being well-connected to other parts of the Bay Area via the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
- The majority of inventory in East Oakland consists of Class C apartments, totaling 14,728 units out of the total 17,788 units in the submarket.
- The submarket consists of lower-quality assets, resulting in the lowest average unit pricing in the metro, which measures $270,000 per unit.
- In the past eight quarters, 695 units were delivered, and 378 units are expected to be delivered in the next eight quarters.
Rents | Vacancy | Construction
Neighborhoods around Lake Merritt that border Downtown Oakland remain the hot spots in the submarket, commanding rents well above the metro average.
The East Oakland submarket has the lowest average asking rent, standing at $1,730 per unit, compared to the East Bay submarket average of around $2,380 per unit. Rent growth in East Oakland is weak, with a year-over-year decline of 2.3%, largely due to the presence of aging apartment complexes and relatively limited incomes. East Oakland’s has experienced a lack of absorption over the past few years which has driven the trailing 12-month activity to -1 units, versus the five-year average of 57 units. The current vacancy rate is 8.7%, representing a one-year increase of 2.4%. There are 378 units under construction in the submarket, which is set to expand the inventory by 2.1%.
Sales
East Oakland, by the Numbers Last 12 Months
Source: CoStar Group
- Vacancy Rate: 8.7%
- Asking Rent Growth: -2.3%
- Delivered Units: 454
- Units Under Construction: 378
- Sales Volume: $53.7M
The 12-month sales volume in East Oakland was $53.7 million, which is above the average from the past five years. Properties sold at an average sale price of $1.7 million and an average price per unit of $171,000. One significant recent deal was the acquisition of ReNew Merritt, located at 1130 E 3rd Avenue, by FPA Multifamily. The property, consisting of 178 units, sold for $55.5 million, averaging $312,000 per unit.
