Median home price for O'ahu hits all-time high

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

The median price of existing single-family homes sold on O'ahu last month reached an all-time high — just shy of $400,000 — as low interest rates drove people to buy more homes at higher prices.

At $394,500, the median single-family home price broke the previous record of $392,000 set 13 years ago in August 1990, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors, which has tracked sales since 1988.

Last month's median price, which is the point where half the sales were lower and half higher, was $4,500 more than it was in July and $34,500 more than in August 2002.

A rise of roughly 1.5 percentage points in interest rates in the past two months may begin to affect the volume and value of September resales.

There were 1,017 condominium purchase contracts signed in July, the highest number since the board began tracking such data in 1988.

Condominium resales last month reached their third-highest volume ever recorded, with 646 transactions, compared with 769 in May 1990 and 654 in June 1988.

Through August, the market's year-to-date dollar volume reached $2.21 billion, up 35 percent from $1.64 billion during the first eight months of last year.