Posted on: Friday, April 30, 2004
New-home sales drop in March
| • | March new home sales |
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
The recent concrete strike and a lull in high-rise condominium sales led to a fall in new-home sales in March, the second decrease in three months.
Developers contracted to sell 184 homes last month, down 19 percent from 226 homes sold in the same month last year, which contributed to a 15 percent first-quarter decline.
Market researcher Ricky Cassiday, who compiled the sales data for Hawaii HomeLoans, said industry growth is likely to return in the next three quarters as more large releases of condo tower units hit the market.
Sales in the first quarter of last year, he added, were bolstered by the 250-unit luxury tower Hokua, where units sold for a rough average of $1 million.
"In the future, sales at the other high-rise condos will cause more spikes in sales, and bigger ones, as they are priced lower," Cassiday said in the report.
High-rise projects on the market include 225-unit 909 Kapiolani, 700-unit Moana Pacific and 370-unit Ko'olani, but developers tend to release units for sale in large increments.
For instance, Ko'olani contributed 60 sales in February, which pushed sales higher for the month after a drop in January.
Earlier this month, 909 Kapiolani released 113 units for sale, the first of two expected releases. Michael Koyama, project manager with Prudential Locations, said more than 500 interested buyers responded. "We had overwhelming response," he said. "(Buyers were) extremely enthusiastic."
In March, though, high-rise condo sales trailed the most active new multi-family home projects — Castle & Cooke's Havens of I'i Vistas in Mililani with 41 sales and Haseko Homes' OceanPointe in 'Ewa Beach with 14 sales.
The biggest single-family home sellers were Castle & Cooke's American Classics in Mililani with 22 sales, 19 sales at OceanPointe and 14 at Gallery Homes, a Castle & Cooke community in Kunia.
Another major builder, Gentry Homes, reported just three sales, compared with 35 in February and 41 in March 2003. Gentry was the only one of Hawai'i's largest builders to postpone sales in March as the concrete strike dragged on.
The strike ended early this month, and builders have been struggling to make up two months worth of delayed construction.
Cassiday predicted that the strike will create higher prices for new homes as developers pass on extra expenses associated with bearing out the strike. He also said the dip in supply partly due to the strike will also create pressure for prices to move higher.
In March there were 333 new homes available for sale, compared with 1,038 a year earlier. The average new-home price last month was $360,000, down $44,164 from $404,164 in March 2003.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
