Homebuilders still selling
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
The summer home-buying rush is over, but O'ahu developers still sold a third more homes this past September than in the same month last year, suggesting a relatively strong fall and winter for the industry.
Developers signed 233 contracts for new homes during the month, a 37 percent increase from 170 in September 2001.
Prices were also higher, with the average up $56,030 to $351,024, according to an analysis of sales by Ricky Cassiday for Prudential Locations.
The number of completed sales, which generally trails new contracts by a few months, was 133 in September, up 13 percent from 118 in the same month a year ago.
Cassiday said the lower increase in closings should expand through December as developers turn more attention to completing sales before the end of the year.
The increases for the month were not significantly skewed by the Sept. 11 attacks, which developers said had little influence on sales in September 2001.
As they have been all year, interest rates were the primary driver of the sales, convincing consumers it is still a good time to borrow money for a mortgage. Last week, the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages nationwide dipped to 6.11 percent. In Hawai'i, the average interest rate on such a mortgage was 5.96 percent.
A tight resale market of existing homes is also helping fuel demand.
The biggest seller among single-family homes was in Kapolei, where Makai Village Partnership sold 39 homes at its Kapolei Kai project. It was the third month in a row the project led sales of single-family homes on O'ahu.
For multi-family projects, two of the top three sellers were also in Kapolei at Ko Olina. Brookfield Homes' The Coconut Plantation had 10 sales; six homes sold at the Alexander & Baldwin/Armstrong Builders project Kai Lani.
September sales were down 8 percent from August, but that was a normal seasonal falloff, Cassiday said.
"There's good product out there and a good buying condition," he said. "I think the combination is going to keep the market robust."
Year-to-date through September, developers have sold about $600 million in new homes, compared with about $370 million during the same period last year.
For the nine months, new-home sales reached 1,725, up 33 percent from 1,297 during the same period last year.
The average price was $345,768, up $62,749 from $283,019 during the same respective periods.
Completed transactions totaled 1,145, up 12 percent from 1,020 homes delivered in the first nine months of last year.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
