New-home sales near peak
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Condominium sales at the planned downtown Honolulu high-rise 215 N. King St. helped make May the second-highest month for O'ahu new-home sales in nine years.
Demand was heated for the fee-simple condos priced from $164,000, which dropped O'ahu's average new-home sales price by 10 percent, to $363,830.
Purchasers snapped up 231 of 251 units in the 23-story tower, accounting for more than half of the 384 new-home sales on the island in May, according to data released yesterday by market researcher Ricky Cassiday for Hawaii HomeLoans.
The May total reflected a 38 percent rise from May 2003, and the second-busiest sales month in nine years. The busiest month was April, thanks to another new condo.
"If it weren't for the good sales in the condo market, sales would be down significantly," Cassiday said.
Sales of new single-family homes totaled 81, compared with 218 in May 2003. Cassiday said the drop was due partly to a lag in inventory created by the concrete strike earlier this year.
But the condo market, where hundreds of units can be offered at once, made up for the slowdown in single-family homes.
A similar phenomenon was seen in April, when demand was driven by purchases at Moana Pacific, a twin-tower high-rise on Kapi'olani Boulevard between Pi'ikoi and Pensacola streets where units were priced roughly from $300,000 to $800,000.
After 215 N. King, the biggest multi-family home sellers in May were Ocean Pointe by Haseko Homes in 'Ewa Beach, with 34 sales; Castle & Cooke's Havens of I'i Vistas in Mililani, 24 sales; and the Kapi'olani Boulevard high-rise Moana Pacific by KC Rainbow Development, 20 sales.
Single-family home best-sellers were Castle & Cooke's Island Classics in Mililani, with 14 sales; 11 sales at Castle & Cooke's The Renaissance in Waipahu; and 10 sales at Las Brisas by Gentry Homes in 'Ewa Beach.
Cassiday said the 215 N. King project next to A'ala Park attracted buyers interested in high-rise living in town at a price comparable with some town-homes in 'Ewa Beach.
"It's a super-low price in a location right next to a lot of jobs," he said. "Their sales are a reflection of strong demand for housing at reasonable prices. It's a slam dunk."
Units at 215 N. King were priced from $164,000 to $195,000 for one-bedroom, one-bath units, and $270,500 to $323,000 for two-bedroom, two-bath units.
At the end of May, new-home inventory stood at 87, down just a few units compared with the same month in the previous two years.
The May sales data represents signed sales contracts, which generally take six to 18 months to complete when homes are delivered to purchasers.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
