Hawaii tops in amount for home mortgage

Hawaii leads the nation with an average home loan amount of $677,299 this year, more than triple the national average, online lender LendingTree LLC reported Thursday.

Hawaii’s average was significantly ahead of second-place Washington, D.C., with an average mortgage of $393,453, according to the report that covered loans closed from January through Dec. 28.

The average home loan amount nationally was $222,261. Nebraska and Mississippi were at the bottom of the list with average home mortgages of just over $137,000, LendingTree reported.

Hawaii’s average loan amount reflects high home prices. On Oahu, where the bulk of the state’s home loans are made, the average price for a single-family home was $710,089 through the first 11 months of the year, while the average price for a condominium was $359,950, according to data compiled by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

This year’s average price for a single-family home is down from $712,251 in 2010 and $794,183 at the peak in 2007.

A recent report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Housing Policy ranked Honolulu as one of the least affordable cities for homeownership. The report estimated that just 1 of 74 service positions in Hawaii carried a salary sufficient to afford a median-price home. Honolulu was tied for second on the list with about two dozen other cities behind No. 1 San Francisco.

LendingTree estimated an average monthly payment of $3,234 before taxes and insurance for a Hawaii homebuyer taking out a 30-year loan with 1 discount point and a 4 percent interest rate.

The national average loan would carry a monthly payment of $1,061, according to LendingTree.