Oahu median home price rises 4% to $710k as sales jump 12%

The median sales price of a single-family home on Oahu rose 4 percent in July to a year-to-date high of $710,000 amid a 12 percent rise in sales, compared to the same time last year, according to a monthly report released Friday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

In all, single-family home sales rose by 12.3 percent last month to 337 homes sold, compared to 300 homes that were sold in July 2014. The median sales price of those homes rose by 3.9 percent to $710,000 last month, from $683,500 during the same time last year.

The median price was a high for 2015, topping the $700,000 median price set in June, but falling short of the record all-time high of $719,500 set in November.

“July continued the healthy trend in housing sales that we saw in the previous month,” Honolulu Board of Realtors President Jack Legal said in a statement.

Condominium sales rose 12.8 percent last month to 501 units sold, from 444 units sold during the same time last year. The median sales price of those units, however, dipped slightly by 0.5 percent to $350,000 last month, from $351,750 in July 2014.

Still, the decline in condo prices is a positive development, said Legal, who noted that there was a 16 percent jump in the number of condominium units sold that were priced below $350,000.

A total of 256 units were sold in that price range last month. That’s nearly 15.8 percent more than the 221 that were sold in July 2014.

“About a third of these condos were found in four neighborhoods: Makaha and Makakilo in West Oahu, and Makiki and Ala Moana,” Legal said. “It’s encouraging to see more sales of affordable condos, particularly those close in the urban core.”

Year-to-date, the number of single-family homes sold between January and July totaled1,926, a 4.8 percent increase from the 1,837 that were sold in the same seven-month period last year. Meanwhile, the year-to-date median sales price of those homes also rose slightly by 2.3 percent to $690,000, from $674,700 during the same seven-month period last year.

Darin Moriki
Reporter
Pacific Business News