Oahu home prices stay stable overall
More than half of single-family home buyers paid more than $650,000 for an Oahu house in May
Home prices on Oahu fluctuated last month mainly within neighborhoods, which saw everything to single-digit gains to double digit losses, while the overall island market remained fairly stable.
More than half of single-family home buyers paid more than $650,000 for an Oahu house in May, a 2.7 percent decline from the year-earlier $668,300, according to figures released yesterday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. The strength of the condominium market continued to close the gap between house and condominium pri-ces, with the year-over-year median condo price jumping 6.2 percent to $325,000.
"Overall it's a healthy market and there's balance between buyers and sellers out there," said Scott Higashi, executive vice president of sales at
Prudential Locations LLC.
Even as prices are falling dramatically across the country, the median price paid for a single-family home on Oahu during the first five months of the year has fluctuated rather mildly, said Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
"Everyone keeps talking about big price drops, but I'm not seeing it," Shapiro said.
By neighborhood, the spread ranged from a 10.7 percent price drop along the Windward Coast to a 6.9 percent gain in Makaha/Nanakuli, Shapiro said.
Oahu inventory has been particularly stable this year, at about 1,800 single-family homes and 2,250 condominiums available for sale, he said. A drop in sales for both single-family homes and condominiums has brought asking prices down to more realistic levels -- about $740,000 for single-family homes, versus the 2005 peak of $850,000.
"I call this a mid-course correction," said Rick Piva, a top-producing real estate agent at Century 21 Aloha Properties.
Condominium prices, however, are still climbing and in some cases just beginning to fall, said John Riggins, owner of John Riggins Real Estate. "They took a little longer to reach their peak than single-family homes, but they are at or near that mark now," Riggins added.
Still, prices were still high enough last month to temper sales. The number of houses sold fell 4.5 percent to 357 in May from the year-earlier 374. Condominium sales also declined 10.2 percent to 543 last month from the 605 in May 2006, Shapiro said.