Oahu home prices continue to rise

Oahu’s housing market extended a streak of rising median prices on single-family homes in February with a nearly 10 percent gain that represented the fourth consecutive increase and the biggest in the string.

The Honolulu Board of Realtors released a report today showing that the median sale price for previously owned homes last month rose 9.6 percent to $625,000 compared with $570,000 a year earlier.

February’s gain was the biggest year-over-year rise for any month since August 2010 when the median price rose 15.2 percent. Gains since November ranged from 1 percent to 8.6 percent.

Four months of straight increases represent momentum after median prices declined for most of last year, falling in nine of 12 months.

Sales volume also rose for single-family homes last month. There were 217 sales, up 19.9 percent from 181 sales in the same month last year.

"February was an extremely strong month in the single-family housing market," Joe Paikai, president of the trade association, said in a statement.

In Oahu’s condominium market, the number of sales fell 23.1 percent to 227 last month from 295 a year earlier. The median price also was down, slipping 1.6 percent to $315,000 from $320,000 in the same period.