Oakland (Special to ZennieReport.com) Oakland Crime is at unprecedented levels, with car-related crimes the highest in our City of Oakland’s history. What impact has this problem had on local real estate? The written word of Realtor Anthony Riggins, posted for all to see on Nextdoor social media platform, is worth a read.
But, if you’re not on Nextdoor, and do not want to be, here is what the Crocker Highlands home seller wrote, adjusted for presentation here, along with select reactions from unnamed readers.
Oakland Crime A Real Big Real Estate Problem According To Anthony Riggins
Oakland armed crime landed as a real big real estate problem six weeks ago in Oakland and yes, Piedmont too. The local and national press have made us front and center night after night. So, it’s here to stay until corrective action is taken against our poor leaders.
I have not had one buyer at a Sunday Open House for six weeks in a row for four beautiful listings. This has never happened in my twenty year career. This has been very brutal and depressing for both the seller and listing agent trying to sell these beautiful homes.
San Franciscans represent 60% of all buyers in Crocker Highlands. Not one has showed up at my open houses since August. Neither have the other 40% coming from other Oakland neighborhoods. All agents including me are reducing homes from $200,000 – $255,000 and still no buyers show up. No showings from by agents and their buyers between each Sunday Open.
Even in the Great Recession from 2008 – Fall 2012, I had buyers for my listings. Not multiple offers, but I did have buyers at Sunday Opens. Crime is keeping people away.
The Golden Rule in CA is to never sell your final real estate investment during a down market. A seller looking to downsize and find their last forever home cannot afford to leave $500,000 plus in this criminal decline of home values.
This is a lot of money for those wishing to purchase to downsize and retire comfortably. It’s a very big reality for seniors and families looking to escape to Lafayette or Orinda for safety and good public schools with high ratings.
They are also stuck in their homes because of Oakland’s armed crimes and home prices declining in large numbers. Most of my neighbors buy their gas in Orinda for safety reasons and only eat out in Walnut Creek and Lafayette. It’s ridiculous that our poor leadership led to this.
Just giving a real life example of how crime affects the ability for seniors to retire in peace and quiet plus families looking to move to protect their children.
Nextdoor.
Selected Reactions To What Anthony Riggins Wrote On Nextdoor
Here are selected reactions to what Mr. Riggins wrote, and only because the total number is rather large.
Lower Piedmont Resident – I’ve noticed that restaurants in Oakland have also been less busy for the last month or two. Some are starting to close. I believe that is also due to crime, fewer people coming here to eat from surrounding cities.
Chinatown Resident Disagrees With Lower Piedmont – It’s not just people visiting Oakland — the original poster says that his neighbors don’t actually support Oakland businesses, and buy gas in Orinda and eat in Lafayette and Walnut Creek. They allow their fear to contribute to Oakland’s decline, because they don’t support our local businesses.
Meanwhile my renting roommates and I don’t live our lives in fear and are doing just fine supporting local businesses. My mom visited a week ago and we ate in Old Town multiple times without shaking in our boots.
Everyone on this website constantly crying about crime isn’t helping any of this. Potential home buyers might see this post and think it’s rational to be that terrified of living in Oakland, and might look for homes elsewhere (maybe the new development in Alameda that someone just said was overpriced… But where every unit, even 4 beds, is cheaper than Anthony’s $1.7-2.5m asking price)
Laurel Resident Offers View – Somebody somebody posted earlier that Orinda schools tanked and ratings in the last little bit since they bought there anyways. Prices are also dropping because Oakland actually built homes and apartments and built more than almost any City in the state and that will always cause prices to go down.
The crime is also but it’s not the only cause this is why I’ve been people for years that people who own will never vote to have anything new built because it will inevitably lead to decline in the value of their homes because if there’s more supply the price will come down.
Just read an article about that too, and how it is a big part of the price decline in Oakland specifically. But folks that are so paranoid/afraid that they don’t go outside anymore or even get gas as you’re saying they shouldn’t probably be in Oakland I’ve lived here long time.
I’m a woman and I drive Oakland doing Uber in the middle of the night for years and disabled even and I don’t feel the kind of fear y’all are talking about.
Yes, I see crime and I see it happen and I get the hell out when I see crap going down, but I’m not living in this crazy level of fear that you all describe on here everyday every hour every minute. If I was I’d definitely have to bounce for my mental health.
Mandana & Paloma Resident Reaction – I live in Crocker. I shop, park, and walk on Lakeshore, Grand Ave, and Piedmont Ave, and College just as I always have. I see the same viral media about CRIME IN OAKLAND that everyone else does…but my actual life experience in these parts of Oakland is as normal, rewarding, and pleasant as it has ever been – although now I make sure never to leave a bag in view in my car.
I recognize that business is bad & folks selling homes are paying a big price right now. But to portray Oakland as some sort of living Hell is only adding fuel to the fires of fear.
I acknowledge we all have to keep our wits about us and be aware of our environment. But there’s a lot of fear driven by the media circus and viral media that doesn’t match the reality of actual life.
Peralta Hacienda Resident Reaction – I recently accidentally left my entire purse on top of my car a few nights ago and it was still there intact in the morning. WHOOPS.
Crocker Highlands Resident Reaction – Hi everyone, crime is terrible (no doubt) but I really think the biggest issue currently affecting our Oakland housing market are the 8% interest rates which have definitely impacted some price points more than others.
I currently have 6 homes in escrow and open houses are still relatively strong. We did have a huge dip in open house traffic turnout in September (after the last big hike) but turnout actually bounced back in the last couple of weeks.
Homes in the $2M+ market (where many of Anthony’s homes are listed) have been much bigger victims of the rate increase, compared to those that are trading in the Mid-$1.5M + arena. Crime is definitely an ingredient in the mix, but not the biggest one.
On the crime issue, I agree, we need a leadership change, this is no time to be used as a social experiment. We deserve to feel safe on our streets, in our cars and in our homes.
Grand Lake Resident Reaction – Thank you for sharing this info. I’ve noticed two homes next door to each other for sale on Trestle Glen. Both huge and gorgeous, of course. I wonder if those homeowners are experiencing this. It sucks. It’s really darned hard to be a homeowner here, with less and less benefit.
Oakmore Resident Reaction – I don’t know. The house behind us sold for $200k over asking in about 2 weeks. Plenty of folks at the open house. The ridiculously small cottage down the street – charming, but tiny – sold in about the same amount of time. I thought the asking price was outrageous and would doom any possibility of a sale. Clearly, I was wrong.
A house in the next block sold in 12 days, above asking – if you believe the real estate mailers. Given that Nerd Wallet is reporting 30 year fixed rate mortgages are running around 8% and asking prices in more than a couple of Oakland neighborhoods are well over $1M, I think you have to lay a goodly amount of the blame on economics. A 20% down-payment ($200k) , plus a monthly mortgage payment north of $3,800 plus property taxes in the $20k range…who has that kind of money?
P.S. I shop in Oakland, buy gas in Oakland, and dine out in Oakland twice a month.
Glenview Resident Reaction – I agree the “leadership” in Oakland is missing in action. The mayor is SOOOOOO ineffective and it trickles down to all the departments. Dirty streets, homeless encampments prevail while city hall is preoccupied with ill conceived streetscape “improvements’ downtown to reduce pedestrian accidents… why not tackle real crime first and advise pedestrians to look both ways rather than looking at their cell phones? Getting rid of all the street parking and reducing the speed limits in DT Oakland will not bring back the retail lost during the pandemic…. GRRRRR.
Woodminister Resident Reaction – Well said Anthony. Our neighbor is selling currently and the showing was depressing. No foot traffic whatsoever.
Overall, All Agree Oakland Crime Is Major Problem, But Some Deal With It In Different Ways
The Nextdoor entries follow a pattern where all agree that crime is a problem, but some believe that others are too reactive to it. In other words, that it’s the price of living in Oakland. But it wasn’t always this way. What’s happening, overall, is there’s no call for giant change at this point. And that may be because the one reaction many have had was simply to leave Oakland, and in many cases, California.
According to KGO ABC Channel 7 “U.S. Postal Service data analyzed by the ABC7 data journalism team shows San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley combined had a net loss of at least 250,000 households from 2018 through the end of 2022. It had the fourth-highest loss when comparing metro areas across the country.”
KGO ABC Channel 7