Oahu’s housing market continued its upward march last month, setting a record for condominium prices.
Sales data from the Honolulu Board of Realtors set for release Friday showed that the median price for condos sold in February reached $359,450 higher than any month previously.
Median condo prices on Oahu have been on somewhat of a record-breaking streak, reaching four new highs in the past 13 months. Before that, the peak was $337,300 in May 2008 at the top of the last market cycle for condo prices.
In Oahu’s single-family house category, no record was broken last month. However, the median price rose a robust 13 percent to $679,000 over the year-earlier figure of $600,000.
The previous record for the single-family home median sale price was set in June 2007 at $685,000 and was tied in December.
Home prices on Oahu have been on the upswing since 2012, and the gains achieved last month are near projections made by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in August based on factors that include relatively low inventory of homes for sale, low interest rates, a growing economy and rising personal income.
UHERO projected that median prices will rise this year about 12 percent for single-family houses and about 7 percent for condos.
Last month’s median condo price was up 6 percent from $340,000 a year earlier.
Not every segment of Oahu’s housing market produced a gain last month. The number of single-family house sales slipped 6 percent to 190 last month from 201 a year earlier.
Julie Meier, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors and an agent with Prudential Locations LLC, said in a statement that the decline was mainly because of reduced inventory of homes for sale in the bottom half of the price range.
The number of condo sales was up 6 percent to 296 last month from 279 a year earlier.
"These are very good numbers for what is historically our slowest month of the year," Meier said.
According to the sales data, there were 7 percent fewer homes listed for sale last month under $650,000. At the high end there were 27 percent more homes listed for sale above $1.9 million. There were also 39 percent more homes listed for sale between $1.1 million and $1.9 million.
One home sold last month for $9.35 million, reflecting the increased demand for luxury residences.
The oceanfront Lanikai house, which has 6,573 square feet of living space including a separate one-bedroom guest cottage, was built in 2011 and spent two years on the market before selling in February.
HOME SALES |
The number of homes sold on Oahu in February with the median price and percentage change from the same month last year:
|
|
HOMES |
SALES |
MEDIAN PRICE |
February 2014 |
190 |
$679,000 |
February 2013 |
201 |
$600,000 |
Percentage change |
-5.5% |
13.2% |
|
CONDOS |
sales |
Median Price |
February 2014 |
296 |
$359,450 |
February 2013 |
279 |
$340,000 |
Percentage change |
6.1% |
5.7% |
Source: Honolulu Board of Realtors |