Temescal, Oakland

Tanja Odzak is a Top East Bay Realtor with eXp Realty, helping buyers and sellers in Oakland and across the East Bay. Temescal is a North Oakland neighborhood along Telegraph Avenue with roots in the 1800s. Its exact edges are debated, but it is generally bounded by State Route 24 on the west and Broadway on the east. When we refer to Temescal, we are including the Lower Temescal in that term.

At a glance: In the 12 months through September 2026, the median sale price of a single-family home in Temescal was $1,360,000, across 23 sales. Homes sold for about 128.6% of their list price, and the middle sale took 13 days on the market.

Temescal grew up around Vicente Peralta's estate near Telegraph Avenue and Claremont Boulevard. In 1890 it was still a small town separate from Oakland, and in 1897 its residents voted to join the city. An historic Italian community developed here, and the streetcar era made Temescal a busy commercial hub. Temescal Creek was covered over as the city grew, and it still flows beneath 51st Street and Telegraph Avenue.

Mostly early twentieth-century bungalows along tree-lined streets, with many multi-family homes and mid-size apartment buildings mixed in. Homes of this age are worth a careful look before you write an offer.

Like much of Oakland's older housing, some homes here still have original electrical panels or knob and tube wiring, and many have had several owners who each cared for the house differently.

Temescal is a vibrant, trendy, artistic, and historic neighborhood of Oakland. Between Temescal Alley, the Sunday farmers' market, and a well-known restaurant scene centered on Telegraph Avenue and 51st Street, there is no shortage of cool. The Oakland Tool Lending Library is here too, in the basement of the Temescal library branch. At Halloween, Temescal is one of the places to be.

Temescal mixes early twentieth-century bungalows with multi-family homes and apartment buildings, and a rented unit changes the sale: Oakland's Rent Adjustment Program and just cause eviction rules may apply, so talk with an attorney before you list a building with tenants. For a house, the Oakland basics apply. 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 covers each step.

Tanja Odzak knows what to check in an early twentieth-century Temescal home, from the foundation and the electrical to how a rented unit changes a sale. If you're weighing a home here, that's worth a conversation.