Record High for Median Single Family Home Price on Oahu

This past month witnessed continued strength of residential resales on Oahu.

Single Family Home Stats

The median sales price reached a record high of $700,000 in June. Up 3.4% from a year ago, there could be a lot more appreciation ahead in the tank if local economist Paul Brubaker is correct in his predictions.

Here’s an example of a median priced home on Oahu (MLS# 201415429) in Hoakalei

Additional indicating factors for strength in the market for Sellers in June were:

• Median Days on Market was down to just 19 Days
• Months of remaining inventory was just 2.8 Months (anything less than 6 is a Seller’s Market)
• Sellers on average are getting 97.5% of asking price (down from 101.2% in March)

All in all, I’m not surprised as summer is typically a strong market with lots of sales volume, which was up 1.6% from last year to 303 transactions that closed. Although things have definitely favored the Seller more in recent months, not all is “doom and gloom” for Buyers in the marketplace. There are still some great opportunities out there. Although prices are up 3.4% from a year ago, inventory is up 4.1% to 1,200 homes on market, so there’s actually more to choose from.

Condo Stats

June was also a strong month for condo resales with the median price capping at the highest we’ve seen in recent years at $360,000.

This Makiki condo (MLS# 201412476) is priced at June’s median of $360,000

We nearly hit that number in February, however, this past month exceeded the same month last year by 9.1%. Condo Sellers also noticed the following:

• Median Days on Market was 25 Days
• Months of remaining inventory was 3.3 Months
• Sellers on average were getting 96.8% of asking price

This is a segment of the market, too, where there could be more opportunity for Buyers. Condo inventory was up 18.7% from June of 2013. Although prices are up, there’s more competition and I expect more in the years to come. With lots of the new construction going in Kakaako, the word on the street is that most of those Buyers are coming from offshore.

While there is some validity in that thought process, there are also many people here that own existing condos that are either “trading up” or “trading down,” so those Sellers are also creating more inventory. We’ll see what happens over the next few years as those buildings start to come online.

As always, all real estate is local. Here are the neighborhoods on Oahu that were hot for Sellers and Buyers in June:

Neighborhoods “Hot” for Sellers

• Home sales on the Windward Coast were up 200%
• Home prices on the North Shore were up 65%
• Condo sales in Kailua-Waimanalo were up 450%
• Condo prices on the North Shore were up 198%

Neighborhoods “Hot” for Buyers

• Home sales in Downtown–Nuuanu were down 50%
• Home prices on the Windward Coast were down 17%
• Condo sales on the North Shore were down 50%
• Condo prices in Downtown–Nuuanu were down 19%

What’s Happening in Your Neighborhood?

Please consider these are broad overviews for regions on Oahu. To find out what is happening in your specific neighborhood, feel free to contact me for more information.