Posted on: Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Sales surge on luxury homes
| • | Sales of new homes up 22% |
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Million-dollar home buyers swooped in on O'ahu last year, purchasing 259 previously owned homes for at least $1 million each for an increase of 54 percent over the previous year, according to sales compiled by the state's largest residential real-estate firm.
Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties said 91 more homes sold for $1 million on up in 2003 than the 168 homes in 2002, making last year a record for the local luxury market. Growth in million-dollar sales "greatly" outpaced markets on the Mainland, the real-estate company said.
Though not directly comparable, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp., which licenses independently owned Coldwell Banker offices, reported an 8.2 percent increase in $1 million-plus homes sold nationally from mid-2002 to mid-2003.
Coldwell Banker Pacific's data was compiled from Honolulu Board of Realtors sale records for previously owned homes on O'ahu.
Statewide, data from Hawai'i Information Service showed that there was a roughly 35 percent increase in the number of new and existing homes sold for more than $1 million, from 266 to 360, though the data included undeveloped land bought by developers and other types of residential real estate.
The purchases show that rising property values and demand from wealthy residents and investors from Hawai'i and overseas increased considerably last year, which also was a record year for home sales of any value.
Among the buyers of the most expensive homes in the state were Japanese billionaire Gensiro Kawamoto, who in June purchased a three-bedroom, 5›-bath house on Kahala Avenue for $8 million.
A buyer from Beverly Hills, Calif., bought the most expensive home, according to Hawai'i Information data, paying $9 million for a five-bedroom, eight-bath house near Kawamoto's.
On O'ahu, the 259 home resales last year for at least $1 million each represented $495 million in sales or about $1.9 million on average. The 2002 average price for homes $1 million or more was about $1.8 million, according to Coldwell Banker.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
