Honolulu Realtors wish for low interest rates and higher inventory

Jan 14, 2014, 2:47pm HST
Bill Cresenzo Reporter – Pacific Business News

Julie Meier, the president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said she doesn’t like making predictions about how the real estate market will fare on Oahu in 2014.

Last week, the board announced that the median price for a single family home hit $685,000 in December. The last time the island saw prices that high was in June 2007. That figure is also $85,000, or about 14 percent, higher than the median price of a single-family home just a year ago.

Interest rates are now ranging from around 2.25 percent to 4.5 percent, which is a good thing.

But inventory on Oahu remains low, which is not a good thing. Right now, there is around 2.7 months’ worth of inventory of single-family homes and around 2.6 months’ worth of condo inventory, Meier said.
“It’s a good time to bring your house on the market,” Meier said.

There were 283 single family homes sold during the month of December, compared to 291 in 2012, a 2.7 percent decrease. The median price of a condo on Oahu was $330,000, a 1.5 percent decrease from 2012, when a condo sold for 330,000. There were 390 condos sold in December 2013, a 2.7-percent decrease from the 401 units sold in 2012.

Meier said homes in the $1.1 million to $1.9 million range are moving the fastest into escrow and the lack of inventory is felt most in the $475,000 and lower range.

“What we are really hoping for is new construction,” she said. “We are really watching for that.”

The board plans to release the full-year numbers for Honolulu later this month.