Home sales on Oahu last month jumped nicely ahead, despite economic worries spawned by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Isle home, condo sales
surge 12%By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com
Sales volumes were up for both single-family homes and condominium units and prices were well ahead among the single-family properties, although they were down for apartments, according to today's report from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
Resales of single-family homes were up 12.5 percent at 306 transactions, compared to 272 in October 2000.
The median price among those sales last month was $325,000, up 12.7 percent from the $288,500 October 2000 median, the price at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Condominium resales were up 12.7 percent, at 382 from a year-earlier 339, but the condominium median was down 7.4 percent at $125,000, from $135,000 in October 2000.
"Home sales are back on track," said Peter Freemen, president and chief executive of the 3,500-member Oahu real estate trade association. "Year-to-date dollar sales volume through October rose to almost $1.69 billion, compared to $1.62 billion last year. This is a gain for the year of $70 million, or 4.3 percent," Freeman said.
"October sales continued the expansion that started in 1997. We continued to be optimistic," he said.
One reason for that optimism, he said, was that last month's events don't seem to have affected the rate at which properties are moving from "active listing" status to "pending sales."
The Realtors report, which covers only previously owned homes and does not deal with the new-homes market, is usually the first in a string of monthly statistics that indicate the condition of the Hawaii economy.
Preliminary data suggest the others, such as unemployment, hotel occupancy and tourism arrivals, will be well off of 2000 figures.
Final numbers don't come out until near the end of the month.