Honolulu among the
top for home pricesHonolulu had the third-highest resale price in the nation for a single-family home in the third-quarter of this year, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors.
The Honolulu median, the price at which half the homes sold for more and half for less, averaged $392,500 in the three months through Sept. 30, up 13.8 percent from $345,000 in the third quarter of 2002.
The rise was not enough to put Honolulu in top place, however, as prices soared across the nation.
The highest median, $510,800, was recorded in Orange County, Calif. Next was Boston, at $432,700. The lowest quarterly median for previously owned homes among the nation’s metropolitan areas was in El Paso, Texas, at $95,100.
The association said total sales activity in the third quarter was the highest on record, with 48 states and the District of Columbia reporting volume increases. (Information for two states was not available).
“Clearly, the historic lows we’ve seen in mortgage interest rates this year are the biggest factor in record home sales,” said David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist. “But the growing number of households entering the prime years for buying a first home will be driving the housing market for years to come,” he said.
