Healthy gains in the volume of sales and median price for Oahu homes in November have put the island’s housing market on track to finish the year with its best performance since 2007.
There were 290 single-family homes sold on Oahu in November at a median sales price of $640,000, the Honolulu Board of Realtors reported Friday. That was up 15.5 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, from the same month a year earlier.
Demand for condominiums also grew, with sales rising 9 percent to 363 in November from a year earlier. The median price sales increased 10.2 percent to $325,000 during the same period.
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 2012 |
290 |
$640,000 |
| November 2011 |
251 |
$580,000 |
| Pct. change |
+15.5% |
+10.3% |
| Condos |
| |
Sales |
Median Price |
| November 2012 |
363 |
$325,000 |
| November 2011 |
333 |
$295,000 |
| Pct. change |
+9.0% |
+10.2% |
Source: Honolulu Board of Realtors
|
The strength of Honolulu’s condo market was evident Friday in the overwhelming response from prospective buyers seeking to reserve units in a planned 206-unit luxury condominium called One Ala Moana.
People began lining up at 3 a.m. Friday at the project’s sales office after the Star-Advertiser inadvertently printed an advertisement three days early announcing the start of sales. The ad, which was supposed to be printed in Monday’s newspaper, announced that sales would begin Tuesday.
However, since so many people had lined up Friday, the project’s developers decided to start the sales process early, said Joyce Timpson, who is handling the marketing for One Ala Moana. The roughly 170 prospective buyers were given numbers and told to return today to sign sales contracts and put down deposits, Timpson said.
"While we certainly regret publishing the ad on the incorrect date, I suppose having nearly 170 people willing to camp on the sidewalk to buy million- and multimillion-dollar real estate sends a message about where our economy is," said Dave Kennedy, the Star-Advertiser’s senior vice president/marketing.
The prospective buyers will be vying for 103 units in the project reserved for owner-occupants. The first 103 units of One Ala Moana were reserved for the project’s developers and investors.
Condos in the 17-story tower planned atop Nordstrom’s six-story parking garage at Ala Moana Center are priced from $583,000 for a one-bedroom, 760-square-foot unit to $8.85 million for a 3-bedroom penthouse with 4,100 square feet of living space.
The project is being developed by HHMK Development LLC, comprised of landowner The Howard Hughes Corp. and Honolulu development firms The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group.
The project’s broker is Heyer & Associates LLC.
The momentum being built in Oahu’s housing market is poised to carry through to next year, said Joe Paikai, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
"As 2012 comes to a close, we can be extremely optimistic about the strength of the market going into 2013," he said.
There were 2,863 single-family homes sold through the first 11 months of the year. If sales continue at the current pace, 2012 will post the largest sales volume since 2007, when 3,627 homes were sold. The median sales price of $625,000 through November is poised to finish the year at its highest level since 2007, when it was $643,500.
The story is similar for the condo market, which has totaled 3,934 sales through November. At the current pace, condo sales for 2012 will be the highest since 2007, when 5,499 units sold.
The year-to-date median price is $315,000. The last time it was higher was in 2008, when the median price was $325,000.
