Months of Inventory Get a Boost, Sales Make a Sustainable Pivot, and Conditions Still Favor Sellers
Just released by Hawai’i Life, our Quarter 3 2022 Hawai’i Real Estate Market Report reveals an expanding inventory while the number of sales is decreasing statewide.
Compared to the hot seller’s market that defined the third quarter of 2021, Q3 2022 indicates that while the market is leaning slightly toward stabilization, market conditions still favor sellers on Hawai’i Island, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu.
Q3 Property Sales Lower Than the Same Period Last Year
A look back on Hawaii’s real estate market over the past quarter indicates that each island has seen fewer and fewer property sales. A comparison of Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 proves that the number of sales on the Big Island of Hawai’i and Oahu has only fallen between 25% and 27%, while Maui’s property sales decreased by 32.6% and Kauai’s sales numbers were down 48.6% in the last 12 months.
Upward Trend in Months of Inventory Amidst Drop in Sales
According to the Q3 Real Estate Market Report, months of inventory has climbed over the past 12 months across the state of Hawai’i, slightly softening the pressure on home prices to increase in the process. In the face of this increase, months of inventory still remains at or below 4 months on each island, indicating a housing market that may still push home prices up.
This is especially apparent on Oahu, where the median price of single-family homes has experienced an increase of 6.2% during Q3 2022, while months of inventory have barely inched past 2 months. The 2.1 months of inventory currently available, however, is an increase of 90.9% comparing Q3 2022 to 1.1 months in Q3 2021.
Maui’s current inventory is 3.3 months. Up 94.1% from 1.7 months in Q3 2021, the real estate market on Maui is seeing a significant increase in inventory. Signs of replenishment are visible on Kauai, where current months of inventory available is 4 months, an increase of 73.9% comparing Q3 2022 to 2.3 months in Q3 2021. And the Big Island’s current inventory has more than doubled, rising 121.4% from 1.4 months in Q3 2021 to 3.1 months this quarter.
More Market Stability and What it Means for Pending Property Sales
As the real estate market eased from frenetic to a reasonable pace in 2022’s third quarter, pending property sales fell throughout the state. On the Big Island, homes under contract were 616, a decrease of 19.9% over the same period in Q3 2021, in which 769 homes were under contract. On Oahu and Kauai, homes under contract fell further, with a 32.5% decrease in Oahu’s pending properties and a 34.6% decrease in the pending properties on Kauai.
Homes under contract on Maui took the deepest dive, coming in at 206, a decrease of 41.8% over the same period last year, in which 354 homes were under contract. This consistent decline across Hawai’i suggests the inevitable return to a more balanced market after two years of activity that can only be described as unsustainably-hot.
As the market’s months of inventory across the chain of islands expands to meet buyers’ demand, sellers remain in the driver’s seat. Hawai’i Life’s real estate professionals possess the expertise, knowledge, and skills that buyers require to stay competitive and seller’s need to navigate the decline in homes under contract and home sales.
Watch the Market Report Videos above now, and contact us with any specific questions at hello@hawaiilife.com or comment below.
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