A four-bedroom house on the 200 block of Pershing Drive sold for $5,527,000, the priciest deal among 47 residential real estate sales recorded across Oakland and neighboring Piedmont last week. The average sale price across those transactions landed at $1.1 million, or $648 per square foot.
According to a weekly sales roundup from East Bay Times, the Pershing Drive deal actually closed May 19, but its title wasn't recorded with the county until the week of June 29 — a common lag between when a sale closes and when it shows up in public records. Four of the report's ten priciest sales, however, weren't in Oakland at all.
Why Piedmont Keeps Showing Up on Oakland's Sales List
Those four homes sit in Piedmont, an independent incorporated city of just 1.7 square miles that is completely surrounded by Oakland and shares its ZIP codes, according to KQED. Piedmont incorporated in 1907 specifically to avoid annexation by its larger neighbor, the station notes, which is why its homes routinely surface in Oakland-area real estate reports despite falling under separate city government.
Piedmont's median residential sale price reached $3,073,161 in May 2026, with homes drawing an average of six offers and selling in a median of just 12 days, according to Debbi DiMaggio Real Estate. That competitive pace tracked with last week's Piedmont sales, all four of which closed within roughly 48 hours of each other in mid-May.
Topping that group was a four-bedroom, four-bath house on the 100 block of Caperton Ave., built in 1925, which sold for $4,200,000 — about $1,546 per square foot across 2,717 square feet, with the deal completed May 18. A five-bedroom home on the 100 block of Waldo Ave., built in 1927, followed at $3,510,000, or $1,237 per square foot for 2,837 square feet, finalized May 20. Rounding out the enclave's entries were a three-bedroom on the 300 block of Magnolia Ave. from 1929 that sold for $3,200,000, and a smaller three-bedroom on the 1500 block of Grand Ave., built in 1922, that closed at $2,050,000.
Oakland's Hillside Sales Hold Their Own
On the Oakland side, the record-setting Pershing Drive house — 4,417 square feet, built in 1950, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms — worked out to $1,251 per square foot. A 1911-built home on the 5400 block of Lawton Ave. sold for $2,200,000, or $1,139 per square foot across 1,932 square feet, while a 1941 house on the 5700 block of Presley Way brought $2,550,000 at $1,322 per square foot for its 1,929 square feet.
The remaining Oakland entries were smaller but still pricey: a four-bedroom on the 700 block of 60th Street, built in 1898, sold for $1,993,500; a three-bedroom on the first block of Cavendish Lane, built in 1965, went for $1,553,000; and a three-bedroom on the 6800 block of Chambers Drive, built in 1958, closed the list at $1,400,000, the week's lowest price per square foot at $763.
Both Cities Eye Transfer-Tax Hikes This November
These high-dollar deals matter beyond bragging rights because Oakland levies a progressive real estate transfer tax under Measure X, with rates climbing from 1.0% on transfers up to $300,000 to 2.5% on sales above $5 million, layered on top of Alameda County's 0.11% countywide transfer tax, according to the City of Oakland. That top tier would apply to the Pershing Drive sale, feeding a tax stream the city says generates more than $75 million a year for its general purpose fund. Oakland voters have leaned on property-tax-backed measures before, approving the $850 million Measure U public facilities bond in November 2022 with 75.3% support, according to Ballotpedia.
Oakland's City Council voted unanimously in July to place a measure on the November 2026 ballot that would close transfer-tax exemptions currently available to corporate lenders and institutional investors that foreclose on properties, as reported by The Oaklandside. City officials estimate the change could bring in an additional $4 million to $13 million annually.
Piedmont, for its part, charges a flat transfer tax of 1.3%, or $13 per $1,000 of sale value, a structure its City Council voted in July to ask voters to raise to 1.75% this November, according to Piedmont Exedra. If approved, the higher rate wouldn't take effect until July 2027, with proceeds earmarked for city infrastructure.
A Split Market Beneath the Luxury Headlines
These luxury sales sit apart from a broader market that's been cooling. Oakland's median residential sale price reached $899,000 in June 2026, up 5.7% from a year earlier, with homes selling in a median of 20 days and about 66% of deals closing above asking, according to 8 Blocks Real Estate. Zillow, however, pegged Oakland's typical home value across all residential property types at $721,966 as of June 30, 2026, a 4.6% decline year-over-year, a split the site attributes to higher borrowing costs hitting condos and entry-level homes harder than resilient hillside neighborhoods.
