Oahu home prices creep higher

Oahu’s housing market stayed on track to set a sixth consecutive price record as the latest tally of home sales showed slight gains for prices in October.

For single-family houses, October’s median sale price edged up 1.3 percent to $752,000 from $742,000 in the same month last year.

For condominiums, the median price budged forward 0.4 percent to $397,500 from $396,000 in the same period a year ago.

Those were the figures in a report released Monday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Though the gains were slim, they maintained positive momentum in a market that is pretty much assured of setting a fifth consecutive annual record for median prices with two months to go.

This year through October, median prices are $755,000 for single-family homes and $405,000 for condos. Last year’s records were $735,000 for single­-family homes and $390,000 for condos.

“Oahu’s housing market continues to be strong with consistent sales and steady median prices,” Sue Ann Lee, the board’s president, said in a statement.

The number of sales was up moderately for both single-­family homes and condos in October, as they have been for most of the year.

Single-family home sales rose 6 percent to 355 last month from 335 a year earlier, and condo sales rose 14 percent to 489 from 428 in the same period.

Local economists attribute increased demand for housing in large part to Hawaii’s economy continuing its growth and producing increases in jobs and wages while interest rates remain relatively low. They also have said new housing production is not keeping up with population growth, and that puts upward pressure on prices for existing homes.

Locations, a Hawaii residential real estate brokerage firm, said in a report last week that nearly 1 in 3 single-family homes (29 percent) and 1 in 4 condos (24 percent) sold above asking prices in October.

Lee said more inventory is needed to meet pent-up demand for housing.

Last month there were 1,157 single-family homes listed for sale, down from 1,201 a year earlier. The number of condos for sale was higher, at 1,840 last month compared with 1,687 a year earlier.

Conditions in Oahu’s housing market aren’t expected to change dramatically in the next few years, as construction of new residential towers in urban Hono­lulu slows and suburban development of new low-rise town homes and single-family homes slowly increases.

The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in September forecast that Oahu’s single-family home median sale price should tick up about 5 percent next year to $791,000 while the median condo price will increase about 7 percent to $433,000.