Sell Your Commercial Property In Alameda County, CA

Who rents in Alameda County

Renters head 272,737 of Alameda County's 598,246 occupied households, a 45.6% share in the 2020-2024 ACS. Owners hold 325,509 households, a smaller but still sizable group. Alameda County's renter share sits well above the statewide norm for suburban counties.

Oakland carries the largest renter pool in the county, with a 57.7% renter share and 35.9% of its units in buildings of five or more. Berkeley follows closely at 55.8% renters. Fremont and Hayward sit in the middle of the county's range, with renter shares of 39.2% and 42.0%. Suburban cities lean the other way: Livermore's renter share is 28.0%, and Dublin's is 34.3%, both dominated by owner-occupied homes despite newer apartment construction near job centers.

Rents, growth and affordability

Median gross rent in Alameda County climbed 31.2%, from $1,797 to $2,357, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 ACS surveys. Median household income rose faster, up 30.1% to $129,367, keeping pace with rent gains across the county.

Renter households grew a modest 1.7%, adding 4,451 households, while units in 5+ unit buildings expanded 10.4%, adding 17,203 units. Employment slipped 0.3% over the same comparison period. Rent burden remains heavy: 50.4% of Alameda County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent in the 2020-2024 ACS.

HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Oakland-Fremont area is $2,805, effective October 1, 2026, running $448 above the county's current median gross rent. That gap gives landlords near the FMR line room to raise rents toward market on turnover, within the limits of the statewide Tenant Protection Act.

City-by-city comparison

Rents and renter shares vary widely across Alameda County's covered cities. Dublin and Pleasanton post the county's highest median rents, while Oakland and Berkeley carry the largest renter shares and apartment density.

Vacancy is tightest in Union City at 3.2% and Livermore at 3.5%, while Berkeley runs highest at 9.6%. Rent ranges from $1,979 in Oakland to $3,191 in Dublin, a spread of more than $1,200 across Alameda County's covered cities.

Property taxes and assessment in Alameda County

Alameda County assesses apartment buildings at full cash value on the date of transfer under California's Proposition 13, then caps annual increases at 2% until the next sale. The base levy is 1% of assessed value, plus voter-approved debt service that varies by Tax Rate Area.

Alameda County's documentary transfer tax runs $1.10 per $1,000 of value countywide. Eight cities layer their own added rate on top: Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Hayward, San Leandro, Albany, Emeryville and Piedmont. Pleasanton, Dublin, Fremont, Livermore and Union City charge the county rate only, with no city add-on.

On a $2,000,000 apartment sale, the Alameda County portion of the transfer tax alone runs $2,200. A Hayward sale adds that city's own $8.50-per-$1,000 rate, while a Pleasanton sale does not, since Pleasanton has no added city transfer tax. Pull the exact Tax Rate Area for any Alameda County parcel before quoting a buyer the full annual property-tax bill.

What this means if you sell in Alameda County

When you sell commercial property in Alameda County, CA, you sell into a deep renter market, with renters holding 45.6% of households and 28.8% of units sitting in 5+ unit buildings. Rental vacancy at 5.7% gives buyers room to compare your building's occupancy against the county average, which ranges from 3.2% in Union City to 9.6% in Berkeley across the cities in this profile.

Transfer-tax exposure depends on the city. A sale in Oakland or Berkeley carries an added city rate on top of the county's $1.10 per $1,000, while a Pleasanton or Dublin sale does not. Rent rules differ by city too: Alameda runs its own Rent Program requiring citywide registration, beyond the statewide Tenant Protection Act cap that applies countywide.

As a multifamily buyer in Alameda County, we review 5+ unit buildings from Oakland to Dublin as they stand today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and your latest tax bill, and we will price the building on those numbers.