January kicked off 2015 to a strong start with median prices up. Meanwhile, the overall sales volume is down from a year ago with less transactions taking place as the existing inventory is becoming less affordable.
Condo Stats
The median price for condos shot up 19.2% from a year ago to $381,500. Sales volume dropped 7.7% with 286 sales that closed last month. This is the lowest number of resales since February of 2013. Units were still moving briskly with just 27 Days on Market, which makes it pretty apparent we’re still in a Seller’s Market. With only 3 months of remaining inventory, we still have a ways to go before this is a balanced market with Buyers and Sellers.
This Kaimuki condo (MLS# 201501646) is priced just under January’s median of $381,500
Single Family Home Stats
The single family home market last month wasn’t as hot as the condo market. The median price was $675,000, which ended up being a 7.2% bump from last year. Sales volume put on the breaks more than condos with a 14.6% decrease from the previous January. The segment of the market still remains strong for Sellers as well with just 26 Days on Market and only 2.6 months of remaining inventory.
Royal Kunia home (MLS# 201419717) listed for January’s median of $675,000
Holiday Hangover?
Just to keep things in perspective, let’s keep in mind that most of the sales that triggered in January on Oahu most likely went under contract in late November and December. Given that time of year is typically our “slow season” on Oahu, it’s not too surprising that sales volume was down.
Our market is still a healthy market and I anticipate 2015 to be a great year. We just may be getting early signs of the market slowing down with less volume and a stronger condo market vs. single family homes as more Buyers are getting priced out of homes and gravitating towards condos.
As always, all real estate is local. Here are the neighborhoods on Oahu that were hot for Sellers and Buyers in January:
Neighborhoods “Hot” for Sellers
- Home sales in Ala Moana–Kakaako, Kalihi-Palama and the Windward Coast were all up 100%*
- Home prices in Ala Moana-Kakaako were up 56%*
- Condo sales in Makakilo were up 140%
- Condo prices in Waialae–Kahala were up 147%
Neighborhoods “Hot” for Buyers
- Home sales in Waialae–Kahala were down 67%
- Home prices in Waialae-Kahala were down 28%
- Condo sales in Kailua-Waimanalo were down 83%
- Condo prices on the Windward Coast was the slowest with change at 0%
I’ve been writing these monthly market reports for years and this is the first time I have seen that not one single submarket tracked by the Honolulu Board of Realtors was down! The Windward Coast you’ll see above was the only one that was “flat.” Moanalua–Salt Lake was up just 1% and a few others had single digit price increases. However, the majority of condo submarkets on Oahu had double digit price increases.
What’s Happening in Your Neighborhood?
Please consider these are broad overviews for regions on Oahu. To find out what is happening in your specific neighborhood, feel free to contact me for more information.
* Since there are very few single family homes in Ala Moana-Kakaako, the data was slightly skewed with a diffierence of 1 sale last year and 2 this year.
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