The limited supply of single-family homes on Oahu pushed the median price beyond $700,000 in June, tying the record set a year ago and placing homeownership out of reach for many first-time buyers.
"Affordable now is typically a condominium … unless they have help from family along with higher income," said Dennis Oshiro, executive director of the Hawaii Homeownership Center, a nonprofit that provides financial education to prospective first-time homebuyers.
"The lack of inventory has been a chronic situation," Oshiro said. "With the higher prices, who is able to come up with 20 percent down? If everyone realizes it’s a housing and homeownership ladder, you go up one rung at a time."
The number of previously owned single-family homes sold last month climbed 6.9 percent to 324 from 303, according to data set for release Tuesday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
The median price first reached $700,000 in June 2014, breaking the previous record of $685,000 set in June 2007.
"It’s a matter of supply and demand. There’s not enough supply in single-family homes, (whereas) condos have quite a bit of supply," said Jack Legal, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors. "You still have a lot of supply in condos because now developers are building condos in Kakaako and Kapolei, and they’re not really building single-family homes."
Oahu’s housing market was buoyed by a surge in sales of condominiums — the highest in a single month since June 2007.
The number of condominiums sold jumped 21.7 percent to 500 in June from 411 in the same month last year. However, the median sales price for condo units fell 6 percent to $338,500 from a record $360,000 in the year-earlier period.
"The drop in median price is the result of many of this month’s condo sales being in the lower price ranges, and is in line with our staunch belief that Honolulu’s market needs housing at all price points of the spectrum to remain healthy," Legal said. "It is unclear whether the median price for condos will remain at that level. What is clear is that demand will continue to outstrip supply for the foreseeable future."
The median days on the market for single-family homes in June — traditionally a busy season for housing sales — was 18, while the median days on the market for condominiums was 22, the Board of Realtors said.
Local economists say low interest rates, rising personal income and job growth are largely driving homebuyer demand, while higher prices and still relatively low inventory are keeping somewhat of a damper on sales.
"Housing is an enormous issue for all the families we serve," said Wendy Burkholder, executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii. "That is a ginormous barrier for them finding new housing because their credit scores are not the best and the prices are outrageous."
CORRECTION
The record median price for single family homes on Oahu was $719,500, which was reached in November 2014. An earlier version of this story said the record high was $700,000 set in June 2014 and matched in June 2015. |
