A new report suggests that residential property landlords are largely continuing to seek higher rental rates on Oahu as home sale prices rise.
The report, which highlights a slice of Oahu’s housing market, said the average monthly rental rate for three-bedroom houses on the island was $2,681 in the third quarter, up 7.9 percent from $2,484 in the same quarter last year.
National residential property management firm Real Property Management and Colorado-based real estate information provider RentRange LLC produced the report and released it Tuesday.
Oahu’s increase compares with a 5.7 percent increase, to about $1,360, for roughly 30 major metropolitan areas covered in the report.
The Honolulu metropolitan statistical area covers Oahu.
In the second quarter, Real Property Management and RentRange said average rent for three-bedroom houses on Oahu rose 14.8 percent to $2,675, from $2,331 in the same quarter the year before.
Kawika Burgess, president and CEO of the Real Property Management office in Honolulu, said he expects rent appreciation to continue given Oahu’s relatively “tight” housing market, where homebuilders are not keeping up with demand.
Home prices on Oahu are rising on strong buyer demand, relatively low inventory and attractive interest rates. The median sale price for single-family houses rose to a record $730,000 in September. For the first nine months of the year, the median price was $696,000, up 4 percent from $669,500 in the same period last year.
