A little-known California ‘micro-hood’ is suddenly the hottest housing market in America

Melia Robinson/Business Insider

Bushrod, Oakland, a small enclave across the Bay from San Francisco, was named the hottest neighborhood of 2017 by real estate site Redfin.

The accolade might come as a surprise to Bay Area locals, in part because there’s not much to do in Bushrod. We bet few could find the three-block-wide micro-neighborhood on a map.

It’s the first time an Oakland neighborhood has made one of Redfin’s “hottest neighborhoods of 2017” lists. The site based the ranking on increases in internet traffic to listings in specific neighborhoods. Bushrod homes typically sell in under two weeks at 115% of the listing price.

I recently spent the afternoon in Bushrod to see if it’s worth the hype.

Bushrod, Oakland, is one of a shrinking number of Bay Area neighborhoods where you can buy a home for under $1 million. That might not be true for long.

Nestled between Berkeley and Oakland, the micro-hood sits in an area that’s said to be “closer to San Francisco than San Francisco is.” It takes about 20 minutes to travel from the city’s downtown to Berkeley’s Ashby Station, a 15-minute walk from the heart of Bushrod.

Source: East Bay Times

 

A long-time enclave for the black working class, the neighborhood has tree-lined streets and a handful of businesses with storefronts that haven’t changed in years.

Not much happens in Bushrod. A Wikipedia entry makes note of a 2006 incident in which a large chunk of ice fell from the sky and left a crater, making the local news.

Crime has fallen since the 1980s, when a crack epidemic devastated Oakland. According to real estate site Walkscore, Bushrod deals with less crime than the Oakland average.

In 2005, a series of violent incidents in the neighborhood — including the shooting of a 15-year-old boy traveling with a group who police believe were drug dealers — sparked a new effort to rid the streets of crime in Bushrod. A local recreational center cleaned up its playground and started offering more classes. Police closed several drug houses nearby.

One of the first stops on my tour is Dry Garden Nursery, where I meet the manager, Wangchen Nyima, who goes by “Jinpa.” A former monk, he’s worked here for 19 years.

Nyima lived two blocks away from the nursery in Bushrod, but the house was foreclosed on three years ago. He can’t afford a home that fits his family of four.

He says he hung this sign on the door three years ago but it has only elicited a few chuckles.

As I make my way down Shattuck Avenue, a main city street that bisects Bushrod, I pass a number of “for sale” signs and Airstream trailers and vans that people may call home.

The homes vary in size and architecture. According to Redfin, houses for sale spend a median number of 16 days on the market before new owners scoop them up.

Source: Redfin

I stop in a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria, Nick’s Pizza and Bakery, where the owner recognizes every other customer who walks in the door. The restaurant has been here five years.

Kevin Gaines, a retiree and a Navy veteran, says between bites of a pepperoni slice that he lives down the street in a house that has passed through three generations of his family.

Gaines knows every business and owner within a few block radius. He can’t say the same for his neighbors as the real estate market heats up and new people rotate in.

With houses in Bushrod selling at 115% of the listing price on average, homeowners are listing properties that may have been in their families for decades and cashing in.

“We’re seeing people take the check and run,” Gaines says.

A multi-family apartment building located next to Nick’s is listed on Redfin for $1.2 million.

The three-unit structure isn’t much too look at. But it has a small grassy yard and a fence.

A modest bungalow also located on Shattuck packs a lot more charm. It features three bedrooms, one bath, an attached garage, and a backyard. It’s listed for $799,000.

Within three days of its open house, a “sale pending” banner was added to the Redfin listing.

In the Bay Area, it’s not uncommon for prospective owners to place bids well above the listing price, often for more than $100,000 over. Last summer, as many as 94% of homes in Bushrod sold over the asking price, according to Redfin.

Terrence Cann, a barber and owner of All About Business shop, came to Bushrod in 2001 to live closer to his family. The sense of community has kept him here for all these years.

“I’ve cut this man’s hair since he was in the third grade,” Cann says, holding the back of the barber chair and smiling at the man in it. “Now I cut his son’s hair.” 

He’s seen gentrification change the demographics and character of the neighborhood. Some of his customers moved away because of the rising cost of rent, though they come back for cheap haircuts. Cann points to Dorsey’s locker — an old-school restaurant-bar that closed in 2015 after serving soul food in Bushrod for 59 years — as a sign of gentrification.

Source: SF Gate

I ask Cann if he’s worried the tech industry might move into the area, driving rent prices even higher and forcing long-time residents to relocate. “It’s already started,” Cann says, citing the enormous new Uber office going up in downtown Oakland.

 

As a wealthier class settles into Bushrod, businesses tailored to their interests move in right beside them. At a café, Nomad, young people with laptops claim most of the tables.

Opened in 2003, Nomad offered free WiFi seven years before Starbucks did the same. It also sells sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and several varieties of bottled kombucha.

Sources: East Bay Express and Wired

Two blocks north, I find Mike Dawoud sitting outside his tropical themed coffee shop, Jump’n Java, which opened a year before Nomad did. It’s open 364 days a year (Dawoud takes Christmas off) and has one part-time employee. Business is slow.

Despite the influx of new people, Dawoud says the micro-hood cannot support as many cafés as it has. He might have to sell after 15 years if revenue does not improve.

Dawoud worries for the future of his café. “I think if this place were to close, it would be rough for the neighborhood, even though some of them might not realize it,” he says.

“But I think many of them are too caught up in how much money they want to make in real estate,” he says, “they forgot how important other things can be for the neighborhood.”

Bushrod has the distinction of being the hottest neighborhood in America because it’s a magnet for new tech money. Short commutes into the city, relatively affordable homes, and a close-knit cast of characters make Bushrod a desirable place to call home.

Oakland, once a cheaper alternative to San Francisco, is now a destination on its own.

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