Home resales brisk in April around O'ahu

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sales of existing homes on O'ahu dipped slightly in April compared with a year ago, according to figures released yesterday.

However, the resale market remained brisk with the median sales price jumping 14 percent to $362,500. There were a total of 320 existing home sales on the island in April versus 325 in the year-ago period, the Honolulu Board of Realtors reported.

Condominium resales increased 18 percent from a year ago to 552 units in April, while the median sales price also rose nearly 14 percent to $165,000.

Fueled in part by continued low interest rates, the results were encouraging given that the country was at war in Iraq during the month.

"We have been looking for any negative effects in the housing market that may have resulted from the war in Iraq, but they haven't yet been obvious," said Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Board of Realtors.

Year-to-date home resales were up about 6 percent to 1,194 single-family homes. Condominium resales are up nearly 35 percent to 2,025 units. Total existing home and condominium sales reached $908.5 million.