Property Investment Spotlight: Antioch, California
Still one of the best known medium-sized cities in the East Bay, Antioch is well worth a look for a second home or any kind of investment property. Rental rates remain super high and many otherwise qualified buyers are still priced out of homeownership and looking for a good place to rent. Antioch is so well known, in part, because it’s still convenient to so many other places in the Bay Area and average rental rates are about $1600 monthly.
Although many residents deal with a relatively long commute, mass transit is widely used and widely available in most of the city. The Pittsburg / Bay Point BART station is widely used by Antioch residents who can drive or take the bus there in some 15 to 20 minutes. San Francisco takes just over an hour and Oakland is, of course, a little closer. Though many residents still work in or around Antioch and other parts of the East Bay.
About 110,000 people called Antioch home at the 2010 Census. They pay some of the highest housing costs in the country although they’re still relatively inexpensive when compared to the rest of California. Some 38.25% of homes are tenant occupied, the rest being owner occupied. A full 77% of these are free standing homes and a fair number of high rise and condominium buildings make up most of the rest of housing stock. Nearly 60% of the city housing stock was built since 1970.
Median house values are at $327,000, which means that there are some bargains in there. Most homes (39.7% sell for between $281,00 and $421,000 but there is still a very wide range of homes on the market at any given time.
We rent a number of properties in the Antioch area and the majority of them go to sales and office workers and professionals although the city population includes blue collar workers and a wide range of people at all income levels. Just shy of 20% of adults in the city have a college degree. Annual income for Antioch families of four averages to some $98,000 and the city population includes people of nearly all income brackets.
Appreciation levels have been very strong over the last quarter, and average an annual rate of about 2.72% though many short term rates look much better. We can speak to you in depth about any neighborhood down to a street by street analysis. We regularly work with investment clubs and groups throughout the East Bay, in part because the rental market remains so strong. We also manage a fair number of properties in and all around Antioch as many would-be buyers are waiting for the perfect home to come onto the market. If you’re interested in taking the leap into Antioch’s dynamic housing market, we’ll be pleased to share our experience with one of the East Bay’s most promising communities.
