Advertiser Staff and News Services
Buyers snapped up properties quickly last month, with more condominium sales helping to offset a decline in sales of existing single-family houses.
Overall, 469 single-family homes and condos were sold last month, up 2.4 percent from the same month last year. But single-family home resales dipped 6.5 percent from last February, according to statistics released over the weekend by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
In February, 187 single-family houses were sold, compared with 200 the previous February. Median house prices dropped to $250,000, from $285,000 in the year-earlier period.
Condominium resales remained strong, rising more than 9 percent, to 282 units, compared with 258 the same month last year. But the median price dropped 6.3 percent, to $126,500, compared with $128,300 in February 2000. The median price means half the homes sold for more, half for less.
"While the median sales prices ... are slightly lower, it should be noted that more properties sold ... in lower-priced areas, thereby lowering the overall median price of homes," said Peter Freeman, president and chief executive of the real estate board.
Freeman said that in February, about 50.3 percent of single-family houses sold were in less-expensive areas, compared with about 41 percent the previous month. He said these shifts, rather than individual sale prices, were primarily responsible for lower median prices.
Sales volume continues strong, at $256.2 million so far this year, compared with $242 million in the 2000 period.
Residential real estate experts have predicted another strong year of sales, possibly at a somewhat slower pace than in previous years. Some have said they also expect prices, which have been increasing in some neighborhoods, to head higher islandwide.
Inventory also is expected to remain near the lowest level in a decade, which should keep pressure on prices.
