Manoa Charm Comes With A Price Tag

BY LISA SCONTRAS

This week, University of Hawai’i at Manoa students moved into their dorms in preparation for the upcoming school year. Like college towns around the country, the annual stream of students and faculty bring a certain familiar energy to the well-educated surrounding community, and … may play a key role in keeping real estate values stable.

In 2000, the median sale price of a home in Manoa was $447,500. In 10 years that number has more than doubled to $899,900, making it one of the priciest areas on Oahu.

Typical of an established college town, many are drawn to the academic neighborhood because they are a teacher, professor or education administrator, keeping the rental and housing market strong. In addition to the University of Hawai’i, other Manoa area schools include Punahou School, Mid Pacific Institute, Maryknoll, St. Francis, as well as two public elementary schools – Noelani and Manoa.

“Many families want to live conveniently where their children go to school and where they work,”says Jodee Farm, Realtor and partner at Prudential Locations.

For others the attraction is the central location.

“Manoa’s location ‘in town’ gives easy access to Downtown Honolulu’s financial district,Waikiki, convenient freeway access to go west to Pearl Harbor or east towards Hawaii Kai.”

Accomplishing daily routine tasks is easy, thanks to a variety of neighborhood banks, dry cleaners, hair salons, a music store, bakery, dental care and therapeutic massage and chiropractic services.

A Safeway, Longs, Starbucks, a variety of mom and pop eateries, boutiques, a Japanese language school and the quaint Manoa Valley Theatre are all part of self-contained community.

But some say the real character of Manoa is found in the lovely homes.

“Much of Manoa’s charm stems from the classic homes built from the very early 1900s,”says Farm.

“These homes can be huge 5,000-square-foot mansions to tiny 700-square-foot cottages,”she says. “Buyers love to move into those that have been lovingly maintained for decades, sometimes almost a century, and/or love to purchase those that are ready for the bulldozer or to restore them to their original grandeur.”

Craftsman-style bungalows and Victorian-inspired cottages, gingerbread details, lush greenery, waterfalls, mountains and 100-year-old Monkey Pod trees give Manoa a character not normally found in town.

“These homes are so special, that when homes in other neighborhoods look like an older Manoa home, it is often described as having ‘classic Manoa charm,'”Farm says.”Manoa’s lush valley setting is cool, with gentle breezes and light rains, making the climate of the valley another draw.”

Real estate in Manoa is attractive, and in the second quarter of 2010, there was an increase in the number of sales – 13 homes closed – as well as an increase in the median sale price -up to $1,076,000.

“Manoa continues to be a neighborhood of value,”says Farm.

The number of days a listing is on the market before going into escrow is also down this year, to less than 20 days. On top of homes selling more quickly, sellers are typically getting 99 percent of their asking price, an impressive list-to-sale price ratio in 2010, up from 96 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2009.

“Most homes in Manoa are snatched up when they come on the market,” Farm says.

Currently, there are 35 single-family homes on the market in Manoa, priced from an affordable $625,000 to $3.2 million.

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