Oahu's real estate market saw the median price of homes and condos improve slightly last month from September's lows; however, prices are still trending below last year's level and could get lower still.

While Oahu's real estate market saw sales of single homes fall by 8.3 percent and condominiums fall by 25.3 percent in October from the year prior, the market saw a monthly pickup in prices as consumers took advantage of increased inventory and falling prices.

  “;The median prices climbed back up last month after declining in September, a good sign for both home seller and buyers of the strength of the Oahu housing market,”; said Dana Chandler, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

More than half of Oahu's single-family homes sold for at least $625,000, which represented an increase of 5.9 percent over the prior month and a 4.6 percent drop over the prior year, according to statistics released yesterday by the board. Likewise, the median price paid for a condo rose 9.8 percent from September to $325,000, a 0.8 percent gain from the prior year.

Sales on Oahu have continued to cool, but at a lower rate than in the past few months, Chandler said. The reduction in the number of single-family home sales during October was less than 10 percent, compared to the same month last year, while the condominium market continues its contraction, she said.

But while Oahu's real estate market appeared to rebound into neutral territory last month, the gains could prove to be short lived, said Chason Ishii, president of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties.

Since the time delay between the singing of a sales contract and the closing of escrow is usually between one and three months, Ishii said October's numbers do not reflect the worst of the recent economic turbulence. Most of the deals reflected in October's statistics actually took place in August and September before the stock market volatility of the last three weeks, he said.

“;A lot has happened since then and I think November will be a very low unit count month,”; Ishii said.

The stock market, the election and the economy all weighed very heavily on consumers in October slowing down the market, he said.

“;Consumers are taking a breather as they try to figure out what's going on in the market and with the election,”; he said. “;For most, a home is their single biggest investment, and they want to feel more certain about the market and the economy before they make a decision.”;

While Ishii said Oahu's real estate market will likely fall further and the decline will be reflected in November's numbers, he's hopeful that December statistics will mimic the rebound seen in October's numbers.

“;There are many economic incentives that will take hold once the consumer feels more confident about the economic state of the country,”; Ishii said. “;The demand is there as long as we don't get these big spikes in the market.”;

It's difficult to estimate the impact that continued economic woes and the credit crunch could have on Oahu's real estate market going forward; however, Oahu's real estate market has continued to outperform the bulk of U.S. mainland markets, said Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the board.

“;Even though sales have declined, the inventory expansion has been quite slow,”; Shapiro said.

In October, 2,017 single-family homes and 2,663 condominiums were actively seeking buyers, compared to 1,973 and 2,444 properties, respectively, a year ago, he said.

“;Even with the lesser demand, our sales prices have held up,”; Shapiro said. “;We haven't had the declines that the mainland has had.”;

According to the latest National Association of Realtors multi-community study, median prices across the U.S. have declined by as much as 16 percent, he said.

“;Overall, we're still pretty flat on Oahu,”; Shapiro said. “;Our only double-digit year-over-year price drop across neighborhood was Wahiawa, which fell 14.5 percent.”;

Prices in Moanalua-Kalihi, Honolulu, Waialae-Kahala, Windward Coast, Makaha -Nanakuli and Pearl City-Aiea are still showing price appreciation for the year, he said. All other markets are showing drops ranging from .2 percent to 8 percent, Shapiro said.