How did this summer’s Oahu housing market stack up?

Summer 2017 was a hot one for housing, with single-family homes and condos selling in just 16 days and at full listing price. Median home prices reached new highs that summer.

Summer 2018 also saw record-high median prices; however, rising interest rates tempered the pace of sales. Still, the single-family home market mostly kept pace with the previous year — with Days on Market staying at 16 and buyers, on average, paying full asking price. The condo market in summer of 2018 slowed a bit — as Days on Market rose to 19 days and buyers, on average, paid 99 percent of the asking price.

This summer was largely comparable to summer 2018 — median prices for both single-family homes and condos once again reached new highs, though the percent gain was less pronounced. Days on Market rose for both single-family homes and condos, to 21 and 25 days, respectively. Single-family homebuyers, on average, paid 99 percent of the asking price in the summer of 2019, while condo buyers paid 98 percent of the asking price—a slight decline from previous summers.

Single-family home sales steady but mixed

“The Oahu single-family market held steady this summer, without much change from the previous summer,” said Locations Principal Broker John Connelley. “Home sales, which dropped by three percent between summer 2017 and summer 2018, were essentially flat. While the median home price rose slightly, it was not the jump we saw from the summer of 2017 to summer of 2018.”

Single-family home sales ended summer 2019 with 1,079 sales — one more than the previous year, but 28 less than summer of 2017. The island-wide median single-family home sales price rose by only $1,500 to reach $800,000, compared to an increase of $23,500 from the same period in 2017 to 2018.

Condo sales decline while prices rise

For the second summer in a row, the number of Oahu condo sales declined, falling to 1,502 from 1,593 last summer and 1,620 in summer 2017. Yet median condo prices continued to climb, reaching $435,000 — a one percent increase over last summer and a 5 percent increase over summer 2017.

“Although Oahu condo sales were 6 percent lower this summer compared to summer 2018, and 7 percent lower than the summer before that, the median condo price has continued to rise year over year,” Connelley said

Stand-out summer markets

While island-wide numbers were mostly unchanged, only one-third of single-family home market areas saw an increase in sales, and only three market areas saw an increase in median prices.

The top-performing single-family home market this summer was Waialae-Kahala, with 34 sales between June and August of 2019 — an increase of 62 percent over 2018, but still less than the 40 sales in summer 2017. The median price in Waialae-Kahala this summer was $1.7 million, slipping just 1 percent from summer 2018 and surpassing summer 2017’s median price by 2 percent.

Sales were up in nearly half of all condo-market areas this summer, while median prices rose in one-third of condo markets.

The top-performing condo market this summer was Ewa, with 1 percent increase in sales between June and August 2019 and a 2 percent increase in median price. Months of Remaining Inventory for Ewa condos fell by 22 percent to just 1.1 months this summer — a tight seller’s market. Ewa condo sales were also higher in summer 2019 than summer 2017 — the opposite of most condo markets.

“Overall, this summer’s housing market stacked up evenly with the previous year,” said Connelley.

“With interest rates 22 percent lower than a year ago and rising inventory, we anticipate the momentum we saw over the summer to continue throughout 2019,” he added.

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