East Bay guide · Tier A · Rank #10 of 87
House hacking in Emeryville (Emeryville / North Oakland (NOBE)).
The Emery (500 units plus a park) delivered and leasing, Pixar and EmeryStation biotech in-ZIP, and Sutter's $1B+ campus arriving around 2028. Job density rivals downtown Oakland at this tier.
Status check: Soft refresh 2026-07-15: the biotech leg weakened. Emeryville R&D/lab vacancy hit 45.8% in Q1 2026, and a biotech development site sold at roughly half price in May 2026 after its planned project failed to launch. The Emery and Sutter legs are unaffected; the ZIP held at A on those two.
What's actually happening in 94608
- Delivered / leasing
The Emery (500 units plus a park, on the former Sherwin-Williams site): delivered and leasing. City of Emeryville
- Under construction / planned
Sutter's $1B+, 200+ bed Emeryville campus: outpatient ~2028, hospital ~2033. Berkeleyside
- Existing anchors
Pixar (~1,200 jobs) and Grifols/EmeryStation biotech in-ZIP. City of Emeryville
- In design
San Pablo Ave bus-and-bike corridor (~$250M) in design. City of Emeryville
The numbers
- Median price
- Oakland-plus proxy (NOBE straddles the Oakland-Emeryville line)
- Market rent
- Oakland proxy $2,250/mo (Zumper, Jun 2026)
- Property tax (Alameda County)
- ~1.71% effective (Oakland city median; new purchases reassess at price)
- Per-bed rent band
- $1,050–1,450/mo per bed
- ADU rent band
- $2,000–2,500/mo
- Whole-home rent band
- 2bd $2,700 / 3bd $3,300 whole-home
- Underwriting vacancy
- 5% underwriting vacancy
- Appreciation scenarios
- 2.0 / 3.0 / 4.0 %/yr (conservative / base / upside)
Tax follows the side of the line: ~1.71% on the Oakland side. Appreciation basis: Delivered Emery plus hospital capital; mixed stock; the biotech leg is soft. Rent bands are city-level medians; confirm the specific parcel before trusting any of them. Run your own scenario in the calculator.
Buildings we underwrote in 94608
19 buildings in 94608 carry a record. 4 beat renting and index funds; the rest did not. Every row links to its own page, with the numbers it was scored on.
| Property | At our defaults | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 4-unit building · Clawson / Dogtown Members 4 units | +$761,830 House-Hack | Published pick #1 |
| 4-unit building · Golden Gate / NOBE Members 4 units | +$669,274 House-Hack | Published pick #2 |
| 2-unit building · Clawson / Dogtown Members 2 units | +$149,656 House-Hack | Published pick #4 |
| 820 52nd St 3 units · $899,000 | +$256,148 House-Hack | Underwritten — beats renting and index funds, below the publish cut |
| 3225 Market St 2 units · $695,000 | −$39,956 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1040 59th St 2 units · $699,000 | −$126,121 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1072 56th St 2 units · $898,000 | −$211,437 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 922 Arlington Ave 2 units · $620,000 | −$225,405 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1070-1072 Aileen St 2 units · $925,000 | −$390,562 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1074 43rd St 2 units · $915,000 | −$435,655 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 985 39th St 2 units · $925,000 | −$450,320 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1324 Fitzgerald St 2 units · $999,000 | −$457,374 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1123 65th St 2 units · $895,000 | −$484,274 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 5401 Genoa St 2 units · $1,050,000 | −$532,162 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 962 54th St 2 units · $1,195,000 | −$787,798 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 1086 66th St 2 units · $1,195,000 | −$853,477 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 901 55th St 2 units · $1,299,000 | −$897,306 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 5726 5718 Los Angeles St 2 units · $1,299,999 | −$1,000,234 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
| 870 43rd St 2 units · $1,350,000 | −$1,185,876 S&P 500 | Underwritten — the index wins at our defaults |
The full board shows every region's current week; this table is every record we hold for 94608, newest basis first.
The house-hack angle
Work the North Oakland (NOBE) flats: 2–4-unit buildings and room rentals to a jobs base that rivals downtown Oakland, with hospital-shift demand arriving as the Sutter campus phases in.
What breaks it
- Biotech employment is soft (45.8% lab vacancy in Q1 2026): underwrite to the Emery and Sutter legs
- Sutter's timeline runs 2028 (outpatient) to ~2033 (hospital): model the base band as if it slips
- Oakland-side tax ~1.71% drags coverage