Posted on: Friday, October 3, 2003
Home resales set record
| • | Chart: O'ahu home sales (Sept. 2003 to Sept. 2004) |
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Homeowners selling their residences on O'ahu didn't have to wait long last month as buyers snapped up single-family dwellings in a record 25 days on average and at record prices.
The sales speed, which wasn't much slower for condominiums — at an average 27 days — helped the market in the past nine months match the volume of sales for all of last year, at about $2.6 billion, according to a Honolulu Board of Realtors report released yesterday.
"Listed on Friday, open house on Sunday, sold on Monday," said Frank Leslie, president of Concepts Unlimited GMAC Real Estate. "The resale market is very hot."
Both prices and the number of sales of existing homes on O'ahu rose in September, marking some of the biggest gains this year.
Single-family home resales were up 26.6 percent over September 2002, to 419 from 331, and buyers paid a median of $395,000 — an all-time high, and $35,000 more than September 2002 sales.
Condominium resales were up 54.5 percent, to 703 from 455, marking the second-highest volume since the board began keeping records in 1987.
The median price, a point where half the prices were higher and half lower, was $180,000 for condos, up from $158,500 in September 2002.
The September figures are for completed transactions, which typically lag two to four months behind the time when sales contracts are signed, meaning the September closings reflect market activity from as far back as June, when interest rates were lower.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has fallen four weeks in a row to an average 5.77 percent for the week ended yesterday, according to Freddie Mac. That compares to a record low of 5.21 percent reached in mid-June, and 6.01 percent at this time last year.
Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Realtor board, said interest-rate ups and downs in the past few months have not yet affected O'ahu home sales.
"Mortgage rates have been unpredictable, showing no definite trend, but continue to be very low," he said.
Leslie, however, said he has seen indications of change in the market recently, with the easing of pressures that have pushed prices up and sped sales.
He said Concepts Unlimited agents are seeing fewer buyers making above-market offers, and that last week they received three offers $30,000 below the listing price.
"It's still good, but I think the market is making an adjustment," Leslie said.
For the first nine months of the year there were resales of 3,295 single-family homes, and 5,100 condos, increases of 14.8 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
