Posted at 11:20 a.m., Wednesday, July 3, 2002
Realtors: Home sales stay strong in June
Advertiser Staff
The O'ahu real estate market remained hot in June, although the number of units sold and the price they fetched did not quite match the sizzling level reached in May.In May, the median price for a single-family home climbed to a six-year high of $360,000. In June, that price fell to $330,000, according to figures released today by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. June saw the sale of 339 homes, down from 367 in May.
The story for the condominium market was a bit different. The median condo price rose to $158,000, up 6.8 percent from $145,000 in May.
That's the highest median price for condos since October 1997. The number of condos sold fell back to 413 in June from 468 the month before.
Guy Tamashiro, chairman of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, looked at prices and the number of units sold over the first half of the year and concluded the market is still booming.
"Price trends are clearly rising for both single family homes and condominiums," said Tamashiro. "June was another strong month for housing resales."
The median home price through the first six months was $320,000, up 10.5 percent from the first six months of 2001. Condo prices were up 7.5 percent at $144,000 in the first half.
In the first half of the year, the number of homes sold jumped 11.3 percent from the same period last year to 1,832 houses. Condo unit sales were up 15.7 percent at 2,383.
The strong housing market has been one of the few bright spots in Hawai'i's struggling economy.
Experts say the local real estate boom which has been propelled by low interest rates and people wanting to move money into something safer than stocks will likely continue at least through the summer because the Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates low. Rates on 30-year mortgages are around 6 percent.
