Oahu's median home prices rise
Oahu home prices came back strongly in April, lending support to earlier predictions that the local real estate market has bottomed out.
The median single-family home price on Oahu climbed to $665,000 in April, beating out the median last month by 3.3 percent and last year by 8 percent, according to the latest data from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
Home sales were strong, with 342 existing homes changing hands, compared to 332 a year ago.
The condominium market on Oahu reached a median price of $325,000 in April, 9.6 percent higher than a year ago. Condo sales fell, however, by 9.8 percent to 527.
"As we predicted based on MLS pending data, April sales statistics came in quite powerfully," said board economist Harvey Shapiro. "The median prices rose in the 8 to 10 percent range, indicating that there continues to be a sizable demand for Oahu housing, enough to not only maintain, but to push prices higher."
In early March, Bank of Hawaii economist Paul Brewbaker identified trends in February sales data that suggested the market might already have hit bottom.
Others had watched the median prices yo-yo over the last 12 months, anywhere from the peak of $668,000 in May of last year to the bottom of $600,000 in January.
Inventory increased only slightly in April, with 1,726 homes and 2,301 condos available on the market, significantly less than the increase a year ago.
Board president Berton Hamamoto pointed out a drop in days on market figures for the third month in a row. That's good news for sellers entering the summer season, typically the busiest time of the year, Hamamoto said.