Housing resales
hit volume high
The median price for Oahu condos
also rises to a new record of $217,000
Sales of existing Oahu homes and condos set records in July as a growing number of homeowners stepped forward to sell and had no trouble finding buyers in a market still short on supply.
Buyers closed on 467 single-family homes and 776 condominiums in July, both records for resales in any month, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
The brisk pace of sales in July also pushed the median condominium price to a record $217,000 and kept the median single-family price at $480,000, just a shade under the record $481,800 set the month earlier.
Sales volume is typically stronger in the summer months, but the July records seem partly due to an increase in homes on the market as sellers try to capitalize on high prices amid fears that a rise in interest rates could choke off demand.
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Scarlett Dooley is one of those who did not want to risk waiting, deciding recently to put her Nuuanu home on the market for $399,000.
"We did a lot of improvements and thought we could make a pretty good profit," said Dooley, who bought the home five years ago for $200,000. "And with rates going up, we thought it was a good time to sell."
There were 1,141 single-family homes and 1,604 condos for sale in July, up from 1,036 and 1,450, respectively, in June.
The July sales were contracted before the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its base lending rate by a quarter-point on June 30, and it remains to be seen whether that move will fuel further under-the-wire sales activity or have a more chilling effect.
"The effect of the rate hike by the Federal Reserve hasn't yet hit our housing sales. We'll need to wait and see if there has been any impact," said Harvey Shapiro, the Realtor board's research economist.
Some are already sensing a change in the market.
"I can't see this going on for much longer," said real estate broker Jeffrey Samuels, adding that buyers are turning away from properties because of concern over prices. "Prices are just so high now, and people have had enough."
Nevertheless, it remained a seller's market in July. Single-family homes averaged just 17 days on the market before finding a buyer, while condos took 16 days. Both of those are record lows.
