Having slipped last month, which shouldn’t have caught any plugged-in readers by surprise, the weighted average asking rent for an apartment in Oakland has since dropped nearly 5 percent to a little under $2,500 a month, which is now down over 13 percent since the end of last year and 17 percent below a 2016-era peak of roughly $3,000 a month, with the average asking rent for a one-bedroom having just dropped to under $2,200 a month (versus closer to $2,500 at peak).
At the same time, listing activity for apartments in Oakland, which had remained relatively stable in the second quarter of the year, has jumped around 50 percent since the end of June and is now up around 70 percent versus the same time last year.
And while the jump in listing activity lags the even larger jump in San Francisco, it’s starting to close the gap.
There’s been some new inventory coming out in Oakland since June (such as “Skylyne” at MacArthur BART, 800+ units, and “Atlas” downtown, 600+ units) which surely contributes to both inventory and downward price pressure.
But those brand new units are presumably more expensive than average, which would contribute to holding up the average price, no?