East Bay guide · Tier A · Rank #8 of 87
House hacking in Oakland (San Antonio / East Lake Merritt / Brooklyn Basin).
Brooklyn Basin, a 64-acre waterfront build-out of about 3,100 units plus 200k sqft commercial, is actively delivering, with full-length Tempo BRT and Lake Merritt BART serving the ZIP.
What's actually happening in 94606
- Under construction / delivered
Brooklyn Basin: Parcel H under construction; Foon Lok East (124 units) delivered 2025. SF YIMBY
- Operational
Tempo BRT runs full-length through the ZIP, plus Lake Merritt BART. AC Transit
- Planning designation
Oakland General Plan Phase 1 upzoning along International Blvd. City of Oakland
The numbers
- Median price
- ~Oakland proxy (mixed new waterfront and old flats)
- Market rent
- Oakland proxy $2,250/mo (2bd $2,588; Zumper, Jun 2026)
- Property tax (Alameda County)
- ~1.71% effective (Oakland city median; new purchases reassess at price)
- Per-bed rent band
- $950–1,350/mo per bed
- ADU rent band
- $1,900–2,400/mo
- Whole-home rent band
- 2bd $2,588 / 3bd $3,100 whole-home
- Underwriting vacancy
- 5% underwriting vacancy
- Appreciation scenarios
- 2.0 / 3.5 / 4.5 %/yr (conservative / base / upside)
Mixed stock: new waterfront deliveries next to old San Antonio flats. Appreciation basis: Brooklyn Basin actively building plus Tempo frequency; mixed new and old stock. Rent bands are city-level medians; confirm the specific parcel before trusting any of them. Run your own scenario in the calculator.
The house-hack angle
Old San Antonio flats a few blocks off the waterfront, plus room rentals riding the Brooklyn Basin build-out; Tempo covers the full length of International through the ZIP.
What breaks it
- Oakland's 1.71% tax needs roughly 40–60 bps more rent coverage than San Leandro or Concord
- Oakland commuter rooms are among the more exposed in a rent-softness stress: model 5% vacancy anyway
- City-proxy rents: re-comp at the property level