New-home sales hit record
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Sales of new homes on O'ahu hit another record this year in July, as developers signed nearly twice as many sales contracts than they did the same month a year ago.
Consumers contracted to buy 285 new homes during the month, up from 147 in July 2001. They also spent more, with the average sale price at $352,869, up from $287,248 for the year-ago month.
The 94 percent surge in buying was by far the largest percent increase this year, sending into overdrive an industry responsible for hundreds of construction jobs and millions of dollars in building material purchases in the local economy.
As has been the trend for more than a year, heightened sales were attributed to low interest rates and continued confidence among buyers, said Ricky Cassiday, a market researcher who compiled the sales data for Prudential Locations.
"It's the peak buying season and it's the sweet spot of the real estate cycle," he said.
One soft spot was the number of sales completed, which typically trails the number of new contracts by a few months. Sales closed in July dropped 15 percent, falling to 123 from 144 in July 2001.
Cassiday said the drop was linked to lower new sales contracts signed in February and March, as well as developers who are trying to catch up with demand and deliver finished homes to buyers. The number of closings, he said, should pick up in later months.
Stanford Carr, a local developer building homes in Hawai'i Kai, said business since July has been spectacular. "You can't build them fast enough," he said. "It's been crazy for all builders: Gentry, Haseko, Castle & Cooke, Schuler."
Carr's Peninsula Cottages, a condominiumized single-family product, was the highest seller in that category in July, with 23 sales at an average price of $455,522, according to Cassiday's report.
For single-family projects, 66 new contracts for Makai Village Partnership's Kapolei Kai was the highest number of sales during July at an average price of $230,000.
Haseko Homes' 'Ewa project Mariners Place at Ocean Pointe, where units sold on average for $180,323, had the most contracts for a town house project at 13.
Year-to-date through July, total new-home sales reached 1,255, up 32 percent from 954 during the same period last year. Completed transactions totaled 842, a 12 percent increase from 755 homes delivered in the first seven months of last year. The average price was $344,034, up 23 percent from $279,766 during the same respective periods.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
