Condo market on Oahu enjoyed robust February

Oahu’s condominium market last month was hot, but the single-family home market was not.

The median price of condos sold in February hit a record, but for single-family homes the median price fell for the third time in three months, according to a Hono­lulu Board of Realtors report released Thursday covering sales of previously owned homes in the state’s largest housing market.

Condos sold for a median $340,000 in February, which was the highest median price on record for any month, though there have been several months in the past when the median has been $335,000, including December. The prior high was $337,300 in May 2008. February’s price was up 7.9 percent from $315,000 in the same month last year.

Last month’s median condo price was based on 279 sales, which represented a 22.9 percent increase from 227 sales in February 2012.

The median single-family home price last month was $600,000, down 4 percent from $625,000 a year earlier. Sales were down 7.4 percent to 201 from 217 in the same period.

The price drop, though modest, was the third year-over-year decline in as many months. There was a 3.9 percent decline in January to $595,000 and a 0.8 percent decline in December to $600,000 from the same months a year earlier.

The declines may not be a trend of weakening real estate values, given that the median has been hovering at about $600,000 and the quality, size, age and location of most homes sold could be influencing the measure.

Last year the median single-family home sale price declined in January, March and April. Yet for the full year the median price rose 6.5 percent to $620,000.

The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization released a forecast last month for home prices, projecting that the single-family home median sale price for this year will rise 6.7 percent to around $665,000.

UHERO projects the median condo price this year will rise 7.4 percent to about $340,000.