Are you thinking of leaving San Francisco for the East Bay? You are not alone. Stay tuned for 5 reasons San Franciscans are heading East.
Hi everyone, I'm Simone Koga with That East Bay Life. I'm a Realtor serving Oakland, Berkeley, and surrounding communities. I'm constantly putting out new information about that East Bay life so subscribe if you'd like to find out more.
So I've worked with a lot of buyers moving from San Francisco to the East Bay over the years, but this year, in the summer of 2020, there are so many more. And there are some themes that I'm seeing among my clients. Really, we are living in our homes and in our communities differently than we used to. There are different things that we need out of homes and houses and communities and neighborhoods that we didn't necessarily prioritize previously and that's changed a lot about where people want to live. So let me talk to you about the 5 reasons I see most buyers coming over to the East Bay.
We're going to start with a really great one. Number one, SUNSHINE! We have amazing weather in the East Bay. It is usually 5 to 10 degrees warmer in Oakland and Berkeley than it is in San Francisco. Look, I loved living in The City when I did. It was a whole lot of fun. There's a lot to do. But there is a reason that the fog has a name, right? I mean it is just pervasive and it's something that you're not really going to deal with over in the East Bay. We may have our windy and foggy days here and there but they are few and far between, especially when compared to The City. So, if you're looking for great outdoor time, come out East. We've got so much sunshine; it feels great.
We're also not nearly as hot as further inland. Once you cross over the mountain ridge that the Caldecott Tunnel runs through, getting you over to Contra Costa Count, it becomes a whole different climate. It's scorching during the summer over there and air conditioning and pools are very common. They’re not something that you find that much in Oakland and Berkeley. There are a few homes with A/C but it's not often necessary. It's usually in the 60s and 70s here, not very windy, not very foggy. During the summer itmight get up into the 80s. We'll get into the 90’s I think maybe one or two days out of the year and we usually have summer running from April-- Late march is really, really sunny too, but certainly by April-- through October you've got really, really great weather. Then in November through February/ March you can have some rainy months. Even then, it’s a whole lot warmer than San Francisco.
Okay, so for reason number two that most people are moving to the East Bay: there's a really big variety in the types of communities and neighborhoods that we have here. From Berkeley to Oakland to Piedmont to the micro neighborhoods within that. You've got Gaskill and Longfellow in the area that's called NOBE. You've got Rockridge. You've got Thousand Oaks. There are so many neighborhoods! So whatever type of lifestyle you're looking for, you're very likely to find it here. I know a lot of people come over from The City and want to have that same level of walkability. Okay! Live near Piedmont Avenue, off of Solano Avenue, off of College Avenue. There are lots of Avenues that we live around. Or, live in Uptown. You get a whole lot of that walkability. If you're looking for more of a suburban feel, a neighborhood where you're likely to see children riding around on bikes in the streets or people walking their dogs, check out Trestle Glen, Lincoln Highlands, or Westbrae. There are tons of communities that give you that suburban feel but are still about five minutes away from the more urban centers that will give you the walkability. If you're looking to be in a little bit more of a woodsy or remote area, Hey! We've got that too! Come up to Montclair or the Berkeley Hills. There are tons of hills neighborhoods where you feel like you are going to Tahoe or you're going on a retreat when you go home because you're surrounded by woods. You'll see deer all the time and turkey. It's just amazing because you get all these different things within a 10 to 20 minute drive of the rest of it all. Going from El Cerrito down to Alameda takes 20 minutes. You can cover a good number of cities and a good number of neighborhoods and varieties of neighborhoods in no time at all.
Reason number three people are coming over here (this might be a really obvious one for some of you) Housing prices! The average price of a single-family home in San Francisco in June 2020 was $1,800,000. Do you know what the average for Oakland was during the same time? Single-family homes in Oakland in June 2020 averaged $1,080,000 so it's $720,000 less. Berkeley prices are a little bit higher. They averaged $1.3 million for the month of June. Certainly there are communities where you'll see higher than the average in San Francisco too. Piedmont, for example. It's really difficult to get into Piedmont under $2,000,000. There are parts of Oakland, parts of San Leandro, there are parts of Berkeley or El Cerrito that you can find a condo for $500,000. There's a big variety. You get so much more for your money when you come out here. What you would spend for a two bedroom condo in San Francisco $1.4 million will easily get you a three bed, two bath house with a backyard in the East Bay. People are coming over here to get more. These days we're wanting zoom rooms or additional office space or play spaces or backyards because we're spending so much more time at home. People are really thinking ”If i'm gonna pay $1.8 million I might as well get a whole lot for it” or “You know, I don't have $1.8 million. I've got a $1 million dollar budget. Can I find something? Absolutely! In the East Bay, you can find a great home for a million dollars (and you know it's gonna be a million times better than what you could find in San Francisco)
The number four reason I see people moving out here is because there's really great access to the outdoors in the East Bay. There’s the East Bay Regional Park system, Tilden Park and the Redwood Regional Park. There are tons and tons of hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails across the East Bay. We have the Bay as well that you can take walks along. Point Richmond or in Emeryville or along the Hayward Shoreline. There's tons and tons to do outdoors here. Consider that we're not living our lives in public indoor spaces anymore, that we're staying at home more, or we're going out into the outdoors for our recreation these days. It's really great to have a ton of options. Not only do we have lots of recreation options right here in the East Bay, you're also a little bit closer when you're going out for a day trip or a weekend away or something like that. So if you're going to go up to Lake Tahoe, go ahead and knock 30 to 45 minutes off of your drive because you don't have to first get out of the City. You're already starting over here. Just zip on the freeway and get on over to Tahoe or Yosemite, or to Napa. It’s really quick from here. It's another reason I see a lot of people moving this way; so they can enjoy the great recreation that we have here in the East Bay and so that they also have easy access to the recreation that Northern California offers as well.
I think the number five reason that people are coming here is because they really do want to stay in the Bay Area. We recognize that San Francisco is a big draw for people. It’'s got great jobs. It's got a lot of culture and nightlife, restaurants, and activities. The rest of the Bay Area has a lot of thriving culture as well. I'd like to think that the East Bay actually has even more to offer. There might be a little bit of a rivalry there ;) There's a lot to offer in the East Bay and while we may not be able to access a lot of those things right now, because we are trying to social distance and and lives our lives a little bit differently I think most of us have a hope that life will return to somewhat normal in the next year or two. When that does happen, we don't want to be too far away. A loot of the local bay area tech firms are allowing people to work from home and so people are going to take advantage of that and be able to work from Barbados, have you guys seen that deal? You can go to barbados and they'll like give you a test and then you can work from home in barbados for a year! But what happens if you decide in a year that “I really don't like my company” or “I don't like the way they've been handling things” or you know “I just want to change in life and I want to my job”. It's a lot harder to do that in Barbados than it would be if you're in the Bay area.I think that's something that people are considering too. That when life does return to normal, they'd rather be closer to San Francisco and the Bay Area for restaurants, for entertainment, for jobs, for ease of travel. I know there are a lot of people that want to be able to travel to Hawaii or travel to Asia with a little bit more ease than they would from the East Coast. There are a lot of really great things that the West Coast gives you access to and if you're going to live on the West Coast for all those reasons, why not explore the East Bay, where you can get a whole lot more bang for your buck? So those are five of the big reasons I’m seeing buyers come over here.
Have you been thinking about moving to the East Bay? If you have questions, or just want to talk over you specific situation, give me a call at 415-706-1586 or email me anytime at simone@simonekoga.com