Oahu home prices rise while sales keep lagging

Although the number of homes sold on Oahu last month continued to lag year-ago levels, prices notched up slight gains, according to resale figures released yesterday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The price gains showed up in both single-family homes and condominiums.

More than half of the buyers who bought a single-family home in Oahu during October paid at least $655,000, a 1.6 percent rise from the year-prior median. Likewise, the median price paid for a condominium in October rose 4 percent to $322,500.

"Stability has been the keyword in the market for residential properties on Oahu," said Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Despite rising prices, demand for condominiums has held strong. As many as 423 condominiums changed hands on Oahu last month, a scant 0.5 percent decline from the previous October. However, buyers of single-family homes on Oahu showed price resistance in some neighborhoods, causing the overall sales volume to drop 10.5 percent from the prior year.

Shapiro said the quarter-percent drop in the federal funds rate made by the Federal Reserve this week, mortgage rates should remain at levels that will continue to fuel Hawaii's market.

"Sales in October were similar to last year, and we're looking for a continuation of this pattern in the upcoming holiday season and into 2008," said Berton Hamamoto, president for the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Chason Ishii, president of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, also was upbeat, saying inventory levels are still low enough to keep prices stable to strong, Ishii said.

"With active listings for single-family homes down 3 percent in October and condominium listings down 9 percent, there isn't enough pressure to pressure to bring the prices to a lower level," he said.

Home sales