Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
November was a busy month for Oahu’s housing market, with close to 20 percent more sales than the same month last year, according to a report released for publication today.
The report from the Honolulu Board of Realtors also showed that median prices continued to be higher than a year ago but in the neighborhood of where they have been for the last several months.
Single-family home sales posted the biggest gain, surging 19.5 percent to 294 last month from 246 a year earlier. Condominium sale volume jumped 17.6 percent to 421 last month from 358 a year earlier.
Sales volume in November represented a strong push into the end of the year, as the number of sales for the first 11 months of 2016 has risen considerably less — 6 percent for single-family homes and 8 percent for condos.
HOME SALES
The number of homes sold on Oahu in November with the median price and percentage change from the same month last year.
HOMES
SALES MEDIAN PRICE
November 2016 294 $750,000
November 2015 246 $715,500
Change 19.5% 4.8%
CONDOS
SALES MEDIAN PRICE
November 2016 421 $395,000
November 2015 358 $347,500
Change 17.6% 13.7%
Source: Honolulu Board of Realtors
|
Kalama Kim, president of the board and principal broker at Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, said the strong sales last month occurred during a jump in mortgage interest rates and uncertainty over local and national elections.
The sales in the report reflect purchase agreements typically signed one to three months earlier. Kim said last month that prospective homebuyers might have been trying to make deals before mortgage interest rates rise. In the new report he said volume for pending sales also is up about 20 percent and should be reflected in completed sales in the next couple of months.
Prices in November showed more moderate gains and were more in step with the rest of the year.
Single-family homes sold last month for a median $750,000. That represented 4.8 percent more than $715,500 a year earlier. November marked the sixth straight month for median prices above $740,000. However, for the first 11 months of the year the median price was $735,000 and represented a 5 percent gain over $700,000 for the same period last year.
Condos sold last month for a median $395,000. That represented a 13.7 percent gain over the $347,500 median a year ago. The condo median price for the first 11 months of the year was $389,000 and represented an 8.1 percent gain over $360,000 for the comparable period last year.
If December’s median prices follow the trend, 2016 will be the fourth straight year for Oahu single-family home and condo price records. Also, the price increases this year would be the strongest since a 7.8 percent gain in 2012 for single-family homes and the strongest for condos since 2006 when prices rose 15.2 percent.
Kim noted that the moderately rising prices haven’t held sales back from their gains.
“The closed home sales figures demonstrate that the market still accepts the price for homes here on Oahu even though they have been rising for some time now,” he said in the report.
Oahu home prices are forecast to keep rising for at least another three years, according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.
UHERO published a report in September that predicts median prices for single-family homes will rise 6 percent next year to roughly $785,000 followed by a 4 percent gain to $815,000 in 2018 and then edge up 1 percent to $820,000 in 2019.
For condos, the median price is projected to rise about 7 percent to $415,000 next year followed by a 5.6 percent gain to almost $440,000 in 2018 and then 3.3 percent to $453,000 in 2019.