Oahu’s housing market stalls after record high

Two months after hitting a record high of $700,000, the median price for a single-family home dropped to $650,000 in August, according to statistics reserved for release Sunday by the Ho­nolulu Board of Realtors.

The figure is 2.3 percent lower than August 2013, marking the first time this year the monthly median sales price has lagged behind the same point from the previous year.

The total number of sales is also significantly less than the previous year. Last month, the were 323 single-family home resales, compared to 366 in August 2013, a difference of 11.7 percent.

The median price of a condominium — $350,000 — remained the same as the previous August, but total sales were down to 444 from 460 at the same time last year, a drop of 3.5 percent.

Honolulu Board of Realtors President Julie Meier cautioned not to read too much into the comparison.

"While on the surface it may look like this past August was not on par with last August for sales of single-family homes, the truth is that August 2013 was a banner month — the high point of sales for the year," Meier said in the monthly release. "It would have been very difficult to duplicate that this year."

Meier noted that the average single-family home was on the block for only 15 days before being sold and that inventory of single-family homes and condominiums continues to climb.

Condominiums were on the market for an average of 23 days in August.

In June, median sales prices for both single-family homes ($700,000) and condominiums ($360,000) hit record highs.

In July, the median price for a single-family home was $683,500, up from $647,500 at the same point the previous year. The median price for a condominium was $351,750, compared to $345,500 in July 2013.