New homes hit
7-year highSales and closings in the first six
months both see large gains as
demand outpaces available homes
Rising sales, rising prices and robust demand have pushed sales of Oahu new homes to the highest level in seven years.
The number of sales contracts for new homes in the first half of 2003 grew by 392, a 38.2 percent jump over last year, to 1,419 sales. The number of closings rose 39.4 percent to 1,002.
The first six months of the year marked the largest growth in both sales and closings in the past seven years, said real estate analyst Ricky Cassiday, who compiled the data.
Most closings occurred in Leeward Oahu, which jumped 85 percent over last year to 584 home closings.
The best-selling single-family home projects were the Gallery by Castle and Cooke, Las Brisas by Gentry and Maili Kai by Schuler Homes.
The best selling multi-family projects were Hokua Tower, a joint venture by developers Albert Kobayashi and Duncan McNaughton at Ala Moana; I'Ii Vista by Castle & Cooke, Las Brisas by Gentry and Maili Kai by Schuler Homes.
Schuler Homes Vice President Mary Flood said her company wants to complete 430 homes by Sept. 30.
"Our fiscal year ends September 30 so we're now shooting to finish about 200. That would give us a total of 430 closings for the (fiscal) year," she said.
The biggest problem has been keeping up with demand, and the company continues to hold lotteries for its homes.
"Our challenges continue to be completing homes in a timely fashion," she said.
Schuler is getting to ready to role out a new Hawaii Kai project, Moana Kai, which will consist of about 100 units starting in the high $300,000 range, Flood said. It also has another new project planned for Makakilo, called Anuhea, which it hopes to begin in October.
According to Cassiday's research, East Oahu has the highest-priced new homes at $564,454, with Central Oahu at $354,155 and Leeward at $326,507.
The average list prices of new homes strengthened to $400,000 this year from $358,000, Cassiday said. The increases are the first sizable jumps in new home prices in over a decade, he said
But what remains an issue for the new home market is available inventory, which is down 35 percent this year as developers scramble to keep up with demand.
Cassiday noted that demand for new condominiums is on the upswing.
"A lot of the demand has been triggered by dramatically rising prices in the home resale market," he said.
The rise first encouraged buyers to look at a new home as an alternative to a resold home. Now, with rising prices of new homes, more people are looking to new condominiums, Cassiday said.
