Having dropped to a two-year low in November, the average asking rent for an apartment in Oakland is now holding at around $2,400 per month, which is 4 percent lower than at the same time last year, 10 percent lower than prior to Covid, and 19 percent below its 2016-era peak of nearly $3,000, none of which should catch any plugged-in readers by surprise.
At the same time, the number of apartments listed for rent in Oakland is over 50 percent higher than at the same time last year, but now holding in the absolute, with 60 percent more studios and one-bedrooms on the market and local employment trending down, facts that aren’t “bearish” or “pessimistic” in nature, despite the rationalizations of some, but key to accurately forecasting rents, property values and development trends. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.