October Honolulu Board of Realtor Monthly Report Commentary

Following article was published in the Wednesday, November 9, 2011, issue of the Star Advertiser. The information used to create the article was obtained from the monthly Oahu Housing trend reports published by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. Oahu housing trend reports are available from ExitHDR.com. The reports include a monthly stastical report, housing supply outlook, and neighborhood updates.

Sales and prices for previously owned homes on Oahu were soft in October.

The Honolulu Board of Realtors released sales statistics today showing sales and median prices last month decreased for single-family homes and increased ever-so-slightly for condominiums.

Single-family home sales fell 9 percent to 223 in October from 245 in the same month last year. The median price declined 2.3 percent to $579,000 from $592,500 in the same comparable period.

October marked the sixth consecutive month where the median price declined compared with the same month last year. For the first 10 months of this year, the median price has been up in only one month, April. However, the year-to-date median price is down only 4.4 percent to $570,000 from $596,500 in the same period last year.

Single-family home sale volume this year through October has been higher in four months, flat in one month and lower in five months. Year-to-date volume is down 2.7 percent at 2,429 sales compared with 2,497 sales in the same period last year.

In Oahu's condo market, the number of sales eked out a 0.6 percent gain represented by two more sales last month over a year earlier. There were 321 sales in October compared with 319 a year ago.

The median condo sale price was up 1.7 percent or $5,000 to $305,000 last month from $300,000 a year earlier.

The slight gain in the condo median price reversed three consecutive months of declines. Year-to-date, the condo median price is down 0.7 percent at $302,790 from $305,000 for the same period last year.

The gain in condo sale volume for October was the third consecutive month for higher sales that followed five months of year-over-year declines. Year-to-date, condo sales are up 1.5 percent to 3,356 units from 3,308 units in the same period a year ago.

Joyce Nakamura, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said a more-or-less steady pace of sales and no excess inventory are helping keep residential real estate activity relatively balanced. "October's numbers reflect a movement toward stability in the market," she said in a statement.