The median price of a single-family home on Oahu soared to a record $719,500 last month, putting homeownership further out of reach for the average Hawaii family.

November’s price trumped the previous record of $700,000, set in June.

The median price climbed 5.2 percent from $684,000 in November 2013. Sales, meanwhile, were down 24 percent to 225 from 296, according to data released Monday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

"The median household really can’t afford to buy a home priced at $719,000 … prices have just blown up too much," said Honolulu-based economist Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. "They’re going to find that a home is as much as 20 percent more than what they could afford."

Meanwhile, the median price of a condominium rose 3.9 percent to $343,000 from $330,000 in the year-earlier period. Condo sales fell by 10.8 percent to 363 from 407. Both single-family homes and condominiums were on the market for an average 27 days.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2014 median household income for Honolulu is estimated at $82,600 and growth in home prices is expected to continue as long as there is no new inventory being built, Bonham said.

"We’ve got low-interest rates so there’s demand for housing, but we’re not building anything," he said. "This is what we should expect to happen. Prices rise and they rise to the point where people with relatively good incomes — a two-income earning household — can’t quite make it to that median-priced home."

In November, 171 of the 225 properties sold were priced above $550,000 and 56 of those went for $1 million or more, the Honolulu Board of Realtors said.

"Unfortunately, the inventory of homes selling for $550,000 or less has dwindled drastically," Julie Meier, president of the Board of Realtors, said in a statement. "The demand for homes continues to outpace current inventory levels. Simply put, there aren’t as many properties at the moderate end of the spectrum for potential homeowners to consider at the moment."

AnnMarie Manzulli, 53, and her husband, Sabino, expect to close on a home in Kailua on Dec. 19 and pick up their keys on Christmas Eve after actively searching for a residence for the past three years.

After several offers fell through, they are finally in escrow on a bank-owned property in the $600,000 range.

"We can’t qualify for a $700,000 home. That’s why we’re looking for homes like short sales, even foreclosures, and alternate situations like that," said Manzulli, who is originally from Chicago. "It’s ridiculous. That’s what took us so long to really get here. We’re two working people. We’ve got a kid in college and another kid in high school. You can only have so much liquid cash. We’re still hoping with our fingers crossed that everything goes well."

After 18 years renting in Kailua for less than market prices, the couple had to move out of their beach-side home when their landlord decided to retire there.

It was a rude awakening.

"We had to leave that situation so we found ourselves in real estate shock," she said, adding that rent was more than double what they were paying, which motivated the couple to buy. "It’s now or never for us. I’ve been here 24 years. I’d like to stay until I retire. I don’t want to have to move to the mainland just because I can’t buy a house. That’s baloney."

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

CONDOS

Source: Honolulu Board of Realtors