Upper Rockridge, Oakland

Tanja Odzak is a Top East Bay Realtor with eXp Realty, helping buyers and sellers in Oakland and across the East Bay. Upper Rockridge is the hillside part of Rockridge in North Oakland, rising into the Oakland hills above the flatter blocks around College Avenue. It takes its name from that climb. Most of it falls in ZIP code 94618. The flatter part of Rockridge has its own page, Baja Rockridge & Shafter. Neighborhood edges are often a gray area, so when we refer to Upper Rockridge, we mean the hills above Rockridge. In the home prices below, Upper Rockridge means the homes inside the Upper Rockridge boundary we use for our own Upper Rockridge home search.

At a glance: In the 12 months through September 2026, the median sale price of a single-family home in Upper Rockridge was $2,050,000, across 49 sales. Homes sold for about 115% of their list price, and the middle sale took 15 days on the market.

Streets wind up the hillside here, and many homes look out toward the Bay. Because the 1991 Oakland Hills fire destroyed so many houses, many of the homes in the burned area were rebuilt afterward, and they sit among older homes that came through. The result is a mix of ages and styles. As with any home in Oakland, review the inspection reports, because old homes can come with old-home issues and drainage and foundation problems can show up on a hillside lot.

Hillside homes of any age deserve a careful look before you write an offer. Much of the Oakland hills is inside the City's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which the City kept in place in 2025, so check the address: a sale in the zone includes defensible space paperwork under state law, and it is worth getting insurance quotes early.

Highway 24 runs along the base of the hills and Highway 13 along the eastern side, so freeway access is close. The Rockridge BART station is on College Avenue, down the hill, and AC Transit buses run along College Avenue.

Buyers in the hills ask different questions than buyers on the flats. Where a home was rebuilt after the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, they ask about the build date and the permits. Where it is older, they ask about the foundation, drainage, and electrical. Answering them before you list keeps them from becoming negotiating points later. Oakland's own steps apply here as everywhere in the city. 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, the sale triggers a sidewalk compliance certificate, with some exemptions, and a home in the City's Very High fire zone adds defensible space paperwork. 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 lays it out.

Tanja Odzak works across the Oakland hills and knows what to check in a hillside home. If you're weighing a move to Upper Rockridge, that's worth a conversation.