Dimond District, Oakland

Tanja Odzak is a Top East Bay Realtor with eXp Realty, helping buyers and sellers in Oakland and across the East Bay. She has sold homes in the Dimond District. The Dimond sits at the base of the Oakland hills, centered on the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Fruitvale Avenue, about two miles east of Lake Merritt. Its ZIP code is 94602. When we refer to the Dimond District, we are including both the Upper Dimond and the Lower Dimond in that term.

At a glance: In the 12 months through September 2026, the median sale price of a single-family home in Dimond District was $870,000, across 37 sales. Homes sold for about 121.5% of their list price, and the middle sale took 14 days on the market.

Dimond Park and Dimond Canyon. Dimond Park was established in 1917 and runs along Dimond Canyon and Sausal Creek. It has playgrounds, picnic areas, trails, and a public swimming pool. A Boy Scout hut in the park is built from historic adobe bricks. The park's Lions Pool is home to one of the City of Oakland's youth recreational swim teams, which races on Saturday mornings.

Oaktoberfest. Every October the district holds Oaktoberfest, a nonprofit fundraiser with craft beer, food, and entertainment, co-hosted by the Dimond Improvement Association and the Dimond Merchants Association. The Dimond has long been an entertainment destination. In the early 1900s it was known as "Little Germany," and beer gardens and German vacation resorts lined the boulevard.

A working local business district. Around Fruitvale and MacArthur you'll find a French bakery, a natural grocer, taquerias, restaurants, a public library branch, and a run of neighborhood murals.

Getting around. The Fruitvale and MacArthur intersection is a major AC Transit hub with Transbay lines to San Francisco, and Interstate 580 is close by. The Fruitvale BART station is a little under two miles down Fruitvale Avenue.

The closest public schools are Sequoia Elementary School on Lincoln Avenue, for kindergarten through grade 5, and Bret Harte Middle School on Coolidge Avenue, both in the Oakland Unified School District. Francophone Charter School of Oakland, a public charter school for kindergarten through grade 8, is also on Coolidge Avenue, and The Renaissance International School, a private school, is on Dimond Avenue. School boundaries don't follow neighborhood names, so check the district's boundary map for any address you're considering. The Oakland page lists the public and private schools across the city.

With so many 1920s bungalows here, the questions buyers ask are about age: the foundation, drainage where lots slope toward the hills, and older electrical. Answering them before you list keeps them from becoming negotiating points later. Oakland's own steps apply too. The City's transfer tax is charged in tiers on the whole price plus Alameda County's own transfer tax. The sewer lateral needs a compliance certificate or a time extension certificate before escrow closes, and the sale triggers a sidewalk compliance certificate, with some exemptions. Who brings the sewer lateral and the sidewalk into compliance, the seller or the buyer, is negotiated. My page on selling your home in Oakland walks through the rest.

Tanja Odzak has sold homes in the Dimond District and can usually spot an older home's condition issues by eye, often before the inspection report comes back. If you're weighing a purchase or thinking about selling, that conversation is worth having early.