Oahu Hawaii Real Estate Statistics & Analysis
Aloha! Here are the April 2020 (March Data) Oahu Hawaii Real Estate housing statistics courtesy of the Honolulu Board of Realtors – Hawaii Housing Stats, March 2020. In 2019 we have saw price increases slow down to the point wherein in several months of the year, prices actually decreased. In June closed sales have actually fell by double digits %s compared to the year before. Many had been wondering if we had reached the peak of our economic and trailing real estate cycle. I had predicted a very mild recession at the end of 2020 and had not the Coronavirus arrived to put a damper on the world economy I may have been off by a year. The reality now in April 2020 is interest rates are falling again causing a renewed growth spurt in real estate sales, especially in the median price range ($600K to $899K range on Oahu). For luxury homes (defined as homes above $1.9M) the picture is starkly different with over 17 months of inventory – an extreme Buyers’ Market (more than 6 months of inventory defines a Buyers’ Market). If you are in the market for a luxury home now would be a great time to negotiate a great buy. Hint: investment property taxes on the value of a luxury home over $1M have skyrocketed (on the other hand for primary residence properties property taxes in Hawaii are low) motivating a lot of 2nd home owners to either switch their primary residence or sell. At the Semi-Luxury Market level ($1.1M to $1.9M) we are at a neutral market (6 months of inventory where a neutral market is defined as 5 to 6 months of inventory). Below Semi-Luxury level it is a hot Sellers’ Market all across board. With interest rates at historically extremely lows there is no doubt driving higher sales figures. However, it’s slowing to recession levels at the Luxury Home end of the scale. Let’s see what happens with the Coronavirus and how long it lasts and to what degree it slows down the global economy. I think and hope it will end after several months marking what may turn out to be the mildest recession ever (as I predicted).
Overall Oahu Real Estate Sales have increased by 9.8% for single family homes and decreased by -12.2% for condos in March compared to the same month last year. The YTD (Year-To-Date) data shows an overall sales increase of 11.6% and decrease of -.8% respectively for Single Family Homes and Condos compared to last year. The overall combined trend for the year thus far is trending upwards.
Median Oahu Real Estate Prices have increased modestly by 3.5% and 1.4% respectively for Single Family Homes and Condos compared to the same month last year while YTD median prices have remained the same at $780,000 for Single Family Homes and increased by 4.6% to $430,000 for Condos. We are seeing a surge in sales for the Median Priced Home Market while continuing sluggishness in the Luxury Home Market.
Oahu Real Estate DOM (Days on Market) have decreased in March from 24 to 15 days for Single Family Homes compared to last year. For Condos DOMs increased from 22 to 23 days compared to last year. DOMs (days on market) though increasing slightly for condos, are overall low and, furthermore, average months of inventory is also decreasing for homes from 3.4 to 2.6 months and stayed the same for condos at 3.6 months. (Note that Luxury Home areas are still experiencing every increasing inventories now at over 17 months).
For the detailed report with a breakdown by neighborhood please see: Oahu Neighborhoods Real Estate Statistics (February 2020 Data). Please note that the overall stats for Luxury Homes in Hawaii are very different from that of the Median Home Areas whereas Luxury Home inventory – increasing – is really high pushing downward pressure on prices in those neighborhoods i.e. Buyers’ Market (Median Home areas are Sellers’ Markets). On the other hand, low interest rates are creating pressure on prices in the median neighborhoods where the majority of homes are purchased through financing.
Hot Tip – If you are thinking of upgrading to a Luxury Home from a Median Home, now would be a great time to sell your current home and upgrade to a Luxury Home neighborhood. Please call me for details.
Please check out January’s newsletter’s very important article: Tax Reform vis-a-vis Hawaii Property Prices and Your Bottom Line. If you have a family, school and education should be a priority so please do not miss February’s: Best Schools on Oahau – Private vs Public & Property Values. For finding great value in Kakaako check out July’s: Kakaako Update. For more information about whether your neighborhood is in a Buyers’ or Sellers’ Market (or if you are a Buyer – the neighborhood you are interested in) please check out my previous blog/newsletters here: Buyers’ or Sellers’ Market? Absorption Rate is the Key and The Latest Buyers & Sellers Market Data on Many East Oahu Areas – Know Before Buying or Selling!
For more analysis of what all this means for Real Estate in Hawaii in 2018 – including tips and marketing strategies for both Buyers and Sellers – please sign-up (it’s free!) for Hawaii Damon Real Estate 101 Newsletter. Previous months’ newsletters can be found on the Blog section of my website: hawaiidamon.com/blog.
Lastly, please also check out this site’s easy to use Search Tool to find current listings of Hawaii Real Estate now on the market. Homes for sale in Oahu and condos for sale in Honolulu (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kakaako, Hawaii Kai etc.) can all be found here using the Hawaii Condo Search or Hawaii Home Search tools.
Aloha!
Damon Rhys