When did el Cerritos become so expensive? (Oakland, Berkeley: real estate market, to rent)

[CalAlumnus2012]

The place is now more expensive then Walnut Creek. Anyone have any insight on what changed in the real estate market there. I’m not sure what made it so expensive, especially compared to Walnut Creek.

[Ruth4Truth]

Were you imagining Walnut Creek as some kind of upscale community, or something? Nearly the entire "inner" Bay Area has inflated tremendously in terms of housing prices, because of easy commutability to job centers, and for many--a preference for cooler weather. If you're looking for something more affordable than what you're seeing in El Cerrito, look in east Richmond. Even in the area bordering El Cerrito, housing is cheaper, just because it's Richmond. Also try Richmond Annex, bordering Albany/El Cerrito.

When did you last look at RE in El Cerrito, prior to your current search? What era are you comparing current prices to, and asking about a "change"? Changed, since when?

[davdaven]

The run-up in El Cerrito prices happened shortly after the most recent run-ups in Oakland, Berkeley, and Albany. I would say this happened around 3-4 years ago. At this point El Cerrito is a dual-income type of place, and is more expensive than some parts of Oakland and Berkeley. Heck, even Richmond Annex is starting to be priced like El Cerrito!

El Cerrito doesn't have the big-city problems found in Oakland and Berkeley... Large homeless population, dysfunctional local government, etc. Berkeley has a ton of property tax assessments, so why buy in Berkeley and subject yourself to huge annual tax bills? Albany would be the obvious alternative to Berkeley, but Albany is expensive because its schools are nice. So El Cerrito is next in line.

To your point about Walnut Creek, keep in mind that El Cerrito is much more central to SF and Marin, which are large employment centers, and has more mild weather too. Plus there are many businesses that cater to Asians (one of the Bay Area's larger minority groups).

[vunderbar]

Gentrification! Lots of people discovered much of El Cerrito is not a whole lot different from Kensington/Albany/Berkeley. You can have the hills, the water views and proximity to SF/Marin. Next in line: Richmond.

[PMicallief]

Originally Posted by CalAlumnus2012

The place is now more expensive then Walnut Creek. Anyone have any insight on what changed in the real estate market there. I’m not sure what made it so expensive, especially compared to Walnut Creek.

It’s a reasonably nice and safe area with a half decent school district in a somewhat more urbanized setting with good access to Berkeley, Oakland and the City of course it’s expensive.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by davdaven

To your point about Walnut Creek, keep in mind that El Cerrito is much more central to SF and Marin, which are large employment centers, and has more mild weather too. Plus there are many businesses that cater to Asians (one of the Bay Area's larger minority groups).

Marin sure but El Cerrito is only 3-5 min quicker on BART into SF than WC.

[davdaven]

Originally Posted by sav858

Marin sure but El Cerrito is only 3-5 min quicker on BART into SF than WC.

Correct. However, the commute experience is much better. El Cerrito has the second and third stops on the line, while trains are mostly full by the time they reach Walnut Creek. The yellow line had crush loads during the peak of the peak before the pandemic hit, which can make those 3-5 minutes seem like eternity. Also, El Cerrito has/had 3 AC Transit Transbay lines and casual carpool until the pandemic hit. Casual carpool probably won't come back, but AC Transit recently resumed 2 of the 3 Transbay lines serving El Cerrito (G and L, H still out of service).

[CBB_bear]

I rented in El Cerrito for a while. Super easy access to Berkeley/Oakland and Marin (much closer than Walnut Creek and no extra tunnel) and it was pretty great to have Wildcat Canyon park as my backyard. Great Asian supermarket and ethnic restaurants. The schools are decent enough to be an option for many families. We were able to rent an in-law unit in the hills for less than we could find in Berkeley.