Berkeley · Neighborhood guide
Northbrae, Berkeley
Northbrae in Berkeley: a 1907 hillside neighborhood of stone pillars, stairways, Marin Circle's fountain, and Indian Rock's views. A guide from Tanja Odzak.
Where is Northbrae?
Northbrae sits roughly north of Berryman Street, south of Solano Avenue, and east of Spruce Street, climbing from the flats into the Berkeley Hills. Thousand Oaks lies across Solano Avenue to the north, and North Berkeley lies to the south. North Berkeley BART is about half a mile away.
At a glance: In the 12 months through September 2026, the median sale price of a single-family home in Northbrae was $2,399,323, across 14 sales. Homes sold for about 145.3% of their list price, and the middle sale took 12 days on the market.
Northbrae on the Map
Where Northbrae sits, with the streets and places around it.
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Homes for Sale in Northbrae
Current listings in Northbrae, updated from the MLS.
Northbrae Single Family Home Prices
Sales through September 30, 2026
Few sales, weak data. Northbrae had only 14 single-family sales in the last 12 months. Too little data means the numbers are weak, and weak numbers can misrepresent the market: one or two homes can swing every chart on this page. Read them as a rough guide, not a firm picture.
$2,399,323
Median sold price
43.2% up from the 12 months before
$2,417,444
Average sold price
36.6% up from the 12 months before
$3,205,000
Highest sold price
Sold January 13, 2026
14
Homes sold
Single-family homes
Median price by quarter
The middle sold price for each of the last eight full quarters. Each quarter is only about 3 sales, so a few homes can move it. Hover a dot for the quarter's sales count.
’24Q1
’25Q2
’25Q3
’25Q4
’25Q1
’26Q2
’26Q3
’26
Sale price vs. list price
The list price is what a home is advertised for. The sale price is what it sold for. Over 100% means homes sold for more than the list price. Last 12 months, 14 sales.
- $1,664,071
- Average list price
- $2,417,444
- Average sale price
- 13
- Average days on market
The middle sale took 12 days; a few slow ones pull the average up.
On average, homes sold for 45.3% above their list price.
How hot is the market?
How competitive buying is in Northbrae right now, from how homes actually sold.
Market temperature
91Very hot
Homes in Northbrae sold for about 145.3% of their list price, and the middle sale took 12 days.
How it is scored: half comes from how far above list price homes sold (100% scores zero, 125% or more scores full) and half from how fast they sold (45 days scores zero, 5 days or fewer scores full). Both come from the MLS numbers on this page. It is a gauge we calculate, not an official industry score, and it changes as each month’s sales come in.
Price by number of bedrooms
Median sold price by bedroom count over the last 12 months. Few 5-bedroom homes sell here, so read that one with care.
Bigger bubble = more homes sold. The number inside is how many.
Homes sold by price range
Where the last 12 months of sales landed.
- Under $750K00%
- $750K to $1M00%
- $1M to $1.25M00%
- $1.25M to $1.5M00%
- $1.5M and up14100%
Price range by number of bedrooms
The lowest and highest sold price for each bedroom count over the last 12 months, with the median marked between them. The bar runs from the cheapest sale to the most expensive, so condition, lot and street explain most of the spread.
2 bedrooms (2 sold)
Median $1.6M$1.57M to $1.63M
3 bedrooms (4 sold)
Median $2.54M$1.8M to $3.21M
4 bedrooms (4 sold)
Median $3.05M$1.93M to $3.08M
5+ bedrooms (4 sold)
Median $2.39M$1.6M to $3.08M
lowest sale highest sale median
These numbers count single-family homes only. Condos, townhouses and attached homes are left out. They are the single-family homes that closed in Northbrae, from the MLS. A neighborhood this size can swing from one quarter to the next on a handful of sales, so these show where the market has been, not what your home will sell for. When doing neighborhood stats, it is imperative to use the correct boundaries, as overlapping into adjacent neighborhoods may skew results. These numbers cover only homes the MLS lists under Northbrae. Want the numbers for your street? Ask Tanja.
Source: Bridge MLS, through IDX Broker. Based on closed sales listed under the Northbrae area in the MLS. List price and days on market: Bridge MLS, for the same sales. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed.
Living in Northbrae
What it is like on the ground in Northbrae: getting around, errands, nature and schools, from Local Logic.
How did Northbrae begin?
After the 1906 earthquake sent thousands of San Franciscans across the Bay, Duncan McDuffie and Joseph Mason's company, Mason-McDuffie, bought a large tract of land north of Berkeley and opened Northbrae in 1907. It first came in five sections: Northbrae, Northbrae Terrace, Berkeley Heights, Berkeley Square, and Grand View Terrace. Later additions extended it further.
Why are Northbrae's streets named for California counties?
Berkeley's boosters hoped to move the state capital from Sacramento to Berkeley, and Northbrae was planned with that in mind, so its streets carry the names of California counties: Marin, Solano, and Contra Costa among them. The capital never moved, but the names stayed.
What is Marin Circle?
The Circle is Northbrae's center. John Galen Howard, the University of California's supervising architect, designed it with landscape architect R. E. Mansell, framed by classical balustrades, with the Fountain Walk leading down from it toward the old train station. The fountain was dedicated in 1911. A car crashed into it in 1957 and destroyed it, and a replica was rededicated in 1996, with new bears by sculptor Sarita Camille Waite after Arthur Putnam's originals. Northbrae's public improvements, including the Circle, the stairways and paths, the stone pillars that mark its streets, and the parks around its rock outcrops, became a City of Berkeley Landmark in 1992.
What is Indian Rock Park?
Indian Rock Park at 950 Indian Rock Avenue is a small park built around a large outcrop of Northbrae rhyolite, a volcanic rock. The Huichin band of the Ohlone people carved acorn-grinding holes into the bedrock here, and they are still visible. Duncan McDuffie gave the park to the city in 1917, stone steps were added during the Depression, and climbers including David Brower trained on its faces from the 1930s on. From the top, it is a favorite place to watch the sun set over the Bay. Mortar Rock Park sits just across the street at 901 Indian Rock Avenue.
What is the Northbrae Tunnel?
Southern Pacific built the Northbrae Tunnel in 1911 to carry its Shattuck Avenue trains under the hill. The Key System's F trains ran through it until 1958, and on December 15, 1962, it opened to cars and buses. Today it carries cars and buses from the top of Solano Avenue under the hill.
What kind of homes are in Northbrae?
Northbrae's homes sit on a hillside plan of curving streets and stairways, some with views over the Bay. Houses went up from the neighborhood's opening in 1907 onward, so the streets hold homes from many decades.
What should you look for in a Northbrae home? A hillside home deserves a careful look before you write an offer: how water drains off the slope, how the foundation has held up, and what shape the retaining walls are in. Berkeley also has its own sewer lateral ordinance. The City's certificate is needed before escrow closes, a certificate from EBMUD doesn't count toward it, and under the right circumstances and terms either the buyer or the seller can take on responsibility for compliance.
What schools are near Northbrae?
Cragmont Elementary School on Regal Road and Thousand Oaks Elementary School on Colusa Avenue are both close by, and Martin Luther King Middle School is on Rose Street. School of the Madeleine, a private school for kindergarten through grade 8, is on Milvia Street. Berkeley High School, the city's public high school, is downtown on Allston Way. All of Berkeley's public schools are part of the Berkeley Unified School District. School assignment doesn't follow neighborhood names, so check with the district for any address you're considering. The Berkeley page lists the public and private schools across the city.
What's close to Northbrae?
Solano Avenue, with its restaurants, bookstore, and shops, runs along the northern edge, and its big annual street festival, the Solano Avenue Stroll, fills the avenue once a year. North Shattuck's food shops and the UC Berkeley campus are a short drive south, and Tilden Regional Park is up over the hills.
What should sellers in Northbrae know?
A Berkeley single-family home or duplex needs a Home Energy Score before it is listed, under the city's Building Emissions Saving Ordinance (BESO). The details are on my Berkeley home selling page.
What draws buyers to Northbrae?
Buyers who look at Northbrae usually want a hillside home with a view, sometimes a luxury home, streets with real history built into them, rock parks and stairways close by, and Solano Avenue's shops at the bottom of the hill.
Why do homeowners sell in Northbrae?
Homeowners move on for all kinds of reasons including (but not limited to): upsizing to a second or third home, divorce, relocating for work, or the passing of a family member.
Work with an agent who knows Berkeley's hill neighborhoods
Tanja Odzak knows what to check in an older hillside home and how a Berkeley sale works, from the energy score to the sewer lateral. If you're weighing a move to Northbrae, that's worth a conversation.
What is Northbrae?
Tanja Odzak is a Top East Bay Realtor with eXp Realty, helping buyers and sellers in Berkeley and across the East Bay. Northbrae is a hillside neighborhood in north Berkeley, laid out in 1907 around the fountain at Marin Circle. It is known for its stone pillars topped with concrete globes, its pink sidewalks, its many public stairways, and the volcanic rock outcrops that became some of Berkeley's most loved small parks.
Ready to find your next home?
Tell me what you're looking for and I'll get you real options.
Start Your Home SearchOr call/text (415) 722-0472
Ready to find your next home?
Tell me what you're looking for and I'll get you real options.
Start Your Home SearchOr call/text (415) 722-0472
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median home price in Northbrae?
In the 12 months through September 2026, the median sale price of a single-family home in Northbrae was $2,399,323 and the average was $2,417,444, based on 14 sales. The highest sale was $3,205,000. These numbers count single-family homes only, with no condos, townhouses or attached homes.
How fast do homes sell in Northbrae?
Single-family homes in Northbrae that sold in the 12 months through September 2026 spent an average of 13 days on the market, and the middle sale took 12 days.
Do homes in Northbrae sell above the list price?
In the 12 months through September 2026, single-family homes in Northbrae sold for about 145.3% of their list price on average, which is 45.3% above the list price. The average list price was $1,664,071 and the average sale price was $2,417,444.
Is Northbrae a competitive market?
Our market temperature for Northbrae is 91 out of 100, which reads "Very hot". It combines how far above list price homes sold with how fast they sold, in the 12 months through September 2026.
Where is Northbrae in Berkeley?
Northbrae sits in north Berkeley, roughly north of Berryman Street and south of Solano Avenue, around Marin Circle.
When was Northbrae developed?
Mason-McDuffie opened Northbrae in 1907, after the 1906 earthquake brought a wave of new residents to the East Bay.
Why are Northbrae's streets named after counties?
The neighborhood was planned during a push to move the state capital to Berkeley, so its streets took the names of California counties.
What is at Marin Circle?
Marin Circle holds Northbrae's fountain, first dedicated in 1911 and rebuilt as a replica in 1996 after a car destroyed it in 1957.
What can you see at Indian Rock Park?
Indian Rock is a small Northbrae park on a volcanic outcrop, with Ohlone grinding holes, early rock-climbing history, and sunset views over the Bay.
Does a Berkeley home need a sewer lateral certificate to sell?
Yes, with some exceptions. Berkeley's own ordinance requires a City certificate before escrow closes, and an EBMUD certificate doesn't satisfy it. Who brings the lateral into compliance, the seller or the buyer, is negotiated.
Which schools are closest to Northbrae?
Cragmont Elementary on Regal Road and Thousand Oaks Elementary on Colusa Avenue are close by, with Martin Luther King Middle School on Rose Street.
