This post first appeared in the October edition of Cirios Trends: Getting to the Bottom of the Housing Market

This month’s zip code spotlight shines on one of the hottest real estate markets in the Bay Area. Ironically, it’s one precious few have even heard of. Looking at the map below, this area is squarely in-between Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville, an amorphous collection of gentrification, liquor stores and opportunistic real estate investors.

Some call it Temescal, the map has it listed as Gaskill, while others refer to it as Emeryville.

Close to Berkeley and the trendy Oakland neighborhood of Rockridge and a quick trip to the City on BART or on the nearby Bay Bridge,
convenience and a short commute reward intrepid buyers who aren’t bothered by a neighborhood that is definitely “in transition.”

The area is not without some grit; crime seeps in from other parts of Oakland. But things are getting better.

On the housing side of the equation, examining the graph below, which measures sales price as a percentage of list price, one can see that since 2005 the market has steadily cooled. Then, earlier this year, as foreclosure moratoria kept housing supply off the market and buyers began to regain some of their lost confidence, demand has leapt above supply.

Now, when a turn-key, move-in ready home pops up on the market, there is a veritable bidding war to get in. After all, where else can you buy a newly remodeled home so close to the City for under $500,000?

But although oftentimes investors – or home buyers – are rewarded for dipping their toes into a risk-laden pool, we still remain cautious on this part of town.

If the employment picture does not turn around in the not too distant future and Oakland isn’t able to clean up its act, it would not be shocking to see this neighborhood slip backwards a bit, reversing some of the gentrification of recent years. Buyer beware, to be sure, but it’s worth a look.

Reward, it appears, is still not without its risks.