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Real Estate Prices & Overview

Southwest Berkeley median real estate price is $1,601,645, which is more expensive than 85.6% of the neighborhoods in California and 97.1% of the neighborhoods in the U.S.

The average rental price in Southwest Berkeley is currently $2,831, based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis. Rents here are currently lower in price than 63.6% of California neighborhoods.

Southwest Berkeley is a densely urban neighborhood (based on population density) located in Berkeley, California.

Southwest Berkeley real estate is primarily made up of small (studio to two bedroom) to medium sized (three or four bedroom) apartment complexes/high-rise apartments and small apartment buildings. Most of the residential real estate is renter occupied. Many of the residences in the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood are older, well-established, built between 1940 and 1969. A number of residences were also built between 1970 and 1999.

Southwest Berkeley has a 12.1% vacancy rate, which is well above average compared to other U.S. neighborhoods (higher than 69.8% of American neighborhoods). Most vacant housing here is vacant year round. This could either signal that there is a weak demand for real estate in the neighborhood or that large amount of new housing has been built and not yet occupied. Either way, if you live here, you may find many of the homes or apartments are empty.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.

Modes of Transportation

If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 11.7% of residents in the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 99.7% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.

Also, in the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 32.4% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 97.9% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.

People

An extraordinary 12.8% of the residents of the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood are currently enrolled in college. This is such a large part of life in this neighborhood that the neighborhood changes a great deal with the change of semesters and is far quieter during the summer when many students are away.

Real Estate

Corner bodegas, stores on the first floor and apartments above, former grand Victorian residences converted into apartments, three-deckers built shoulder-to-shoulder, duplexes. Such building types define the real estate of neighborhoods dominated by small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings. Many are in older core neighborhoods of Eastern and Midwestern cities, or historic town centers in their hinterlands. If you wax romantic about the look and feel of such neighborhoods, with fresh pizza, falafel and an independent florist at the corner, then you might find the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood worth a close look. This neighborhood is an absolutely outstanding example of the dominance of small 2, 3, and 4 unit apartment buildings compared to neighborhoods across the nation, as they make up a substantial portion of this neighborhood's real estate stock. In fact, no less than 32.0% of the real estate here is made up of such dwellings, which is higher than 95.3% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood has more Croatian and South American ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Croatian ancestry and 13.4% have South American ancestry.

Southwest Berkeley is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.6% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Japanese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 95.0% of the neighborhoods in America.

The Neighbors

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood in Berkeley are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 59.4% of the neighborhoods in America. With 12.1% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 54.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood, 56.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 16.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (16.2%), and 9.6% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

Languages

The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood is English, spoken by 60.8% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish, Chinese and Polish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the Southwest Berkeley neighborhood in Berkeley, CA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Mexican (17.6%). There are also a number of people of South American ancestry (13.4%), and residents who report German roots (7.4%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (7.1%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (5.9%), among others. In addition, 26.9% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in Southwest Berkeley neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (35.6% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.

Here most residents (35.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also bicycle to get to work (11.7%) and 6.4% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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