Rising borrowing costs continue cooling Oahu home sales
Sales volume declined for Oahu’s housing market in July as rising borrowing costs further cooled the market, which experienced increases in active inventory and days on the market.
Sales of single-family homes declined 28.2% to 224 from 312 in August 2022, according to data released Sunday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. Condos fell 18.5% some 422 were sold compared with 518 a year ago. Sales also slipped from a month ago, down 9.7% for single-family homes and 10.2% for condos.
Fran Villarmia-Kahawai, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said in a statement, “While the market is different compared to last year, we’re seeing similar trends month to month. Rising borrowing costs have buyers taking a more cautious approach, so homes remain on the market for longer periods, but demand and median sales prices are holding steady due to low inventory.”
The median sales price — a point at which half the sales were for more and half were for less — fell 1.6% for single-family homes to $1,090,000 from $1,107,944 a year earlier. The median condo price stayed flat at $500,000 over the same time frame.
Even though sales have been dropping, the median price for a single-family home stayed above a million for the third month in a row. In January, the median single-family home price dropped below a million breaking a 17-month run. The median in July was slightly above the median reached in June.
The median price for a condominium returned to at least a half million in March after dropping below that figure again in January and February. The median in July was slightly below the median reached in June.
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There was a year-over-year decline in new listings, which fell 28.8% for single-family homes and 15.4% for condominiums.
There was a 2.6 months supply of active single-family homes, up from 1.6 months supply last year. There was a 2.8-month supply of condominiums, up from 1.7 months last year.
The median number of days on the market in July was 16 for both single-family homes and condominiums, which took slightly longer to sell than the year prior. Still active inventory remained relatively unchanged in July with a 2.6% rise for single-family homes and a 9.9% increase for condominiums.
