Oahu home sales
surged again in April

Prices rose on single-family homes,
but not condos

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Oahu home sales were up again last month, with total sales of previously owned single-family homes and condominiums running almost 17 percent ahead of April 1997, the Honolulu Board of Realtors said today.

Single-family home sales were up 26.9 percent and the overall market was ahead of the previous year for the tenth month in a row, the association said.

The median price among single-family homes sold last month was up 9.9 percent from April 1997, at $306,500 compared with $279,000, but the association still considers prices as low by Hawaii standards.

"Even with concerns about the state of Hawaii's economy, the lower prices and favorable mortgage rates have been attracting more qualified consumers to the housing market than we've seen in the past few years," said Linda Marn, chairman of the 4,000-member association.

"Median single-family home prices, which seem to be stabilizing in the low $300,000s, represent the best buying opportunities on Oahu since late 1989," Marn said.

Overall, 198 existing single-family homes changed hands last month, compared with 156 in April last year.

Condominium sales were up 8 percent at 202 units last month, compared with 187 in the year-earlier month. However, the median price among the condominiums sold in April the level at which half sold for more and half sold for less was down 12.5 percent at $140,000, compared with $160,000 in the year-earlier month.

Through the first four months of 1998, 702 single-family homes were sold, a 36 percent increase from 516 in the equivalent period of 1997.

Condominium sales in January through April totaled 731, a 21.4 percent increase from 692 in the first four months of last year.

The 4,000-member Board of Realtors reports Oahu home sales recorded in its computerized Multiple Listing Service. It does not report on sales of newly built homes, only previously owned properties.