May’s Market Update Oahu, Hawaii

The question on everyone’s mind is, what is happening with Oahu’s housing market? Are you looking to buy or sell a home? Things are changing here on the island. Hi, I am Fawn Bertram with Homes by Fawn and Hawaii Life.

Oahu’s Housing Market

I know, I get it, with all the negative press out there, who do we believe? Well, I say don’t believe me, and don’t believe the news. Let’s look at what the experts are saying and what is actually happening right now. A report from the Honolulu Board of Realtors shows that single-family homes increased by 10%. While condos/townhomes decreased by 13% from April 2018.

The median sales price though for single-family homes decreased by 2.9%. The sales price of condos/townhomes increased by .07% from April of last year.

For new listings on the market, there was a positive increase in single family homes by 30.6%. For condos/townhomes by 17.6% from last April. The median days on the market for single-family homes was 25 days and 29 days for condos and townhomes.

Future

Now that’s what’s happening now, but what’s in store for our future??? Well, let’s see what the experts are forecasting. The Home Price Expectation Survey, which is a survey made up of a nationwide panel of over 100 economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists are predicting in cumulative appreciation through 2023.

We’ve got the aggressive ones who are predicting about 28.3%. The in-betweeners are anticipating about 17%. The super conservative who are predicting an overall cumulative appreciation of about 6.5%. So the “experts” are anticipating a slow and steady normal appreciation of home prices over the next five years. So if you’re thinking about buying it doesn’t look like home prices are going down anytime soon according to the experts. And if you’re wanting to sell, they are going up but so is the house you are going to purchase. Let’s not forget about interest rates and how they affect buying and selling.

According to the experts like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Brokers Association and National Association of Realtors, they are predicting interest rates to slightly increase through quarter four.

Housing Market

So remember buyers and sellers, as interest rates increase you need to think about how they affect what your mortgage payment will be and also how many people will be able to qualify to purchase your home. Buyers, remember as interest rates increase so does your payment. Sellers need to be aware that the number of people who can qualify to buy your home actually goes down as interest rates increase. So there you have it, the housing market is looking good. As always feel free to reach out to me for anything community or real estate related. Make it a great home buying and selling day.