Oahu real estate prices are still going up

While most of the mainland is experiencing the bursting of their real estate bubbles, Oahu real estate is still going up in many areas. I'm not making this up.

For Oahu overall, the median price of homes is up 1.9% year to date. That mean we might be at around 3% by year end, which would be great, considering parts of CA are down 20% this year alone.

There are 2 main exceptions the price gains in Oahu homes. The North Shore is experiencing a major decline in the number of sales, and the median sale price, although I don't think that means that the price of homes is actually declining. It means that cheaper homes are selling while expensive homes are not. Why?

Well, I did a search of all the North Shore Oahu home sales in 2007, and found that about 3/4 of them were bought by buyers from California. So now it makes perfect sense why that part of the island would see such a strong decline in sales.

On the other hand, Windward Oahu, which includes Kailua and Kaneohe, is up 4.1% in median sales prices, and 7% in the number of sales year to date. This is fantastic news. Kailua and Kaneohe are 2 great areas that I work in a lot, and I could have guessed the numbers would come in strong.

Now, East Oahu came in with a 1.9% increase in price, with a median of $925k. This includes Hawaii Kai, Diamond Head, Kahala, Aina Haina, Waialae Iki, and everything else around here east of Town. East Oahu real estate has the highest median sale price in Oahu, since many of the commuters and heads of business live here. No surprise that sales price are up, even though the number of sales is down 6.4%.

Metro Oahu was down 1.4% in median price, which may be an indication that people are leaving town and headed for the east of Oahu. That's my theory.

Now what about condos in Oahu?

Overall condo prices are up 4.8% for the year and it's only September! WOW! Now here is an odd thing though. Condo prices in East Oahu are down 6.3%, while condos in town are up 9.1%. I cannot explain this at all.

Do you want further evidence that the Oahu real estate market is going up? Consider this. One of the most telling factors is the length of time properties sit on the market. On the mainland, homes are taking 6 months to a year to sell. In Oahu right now, the average single family home takes 44 days to sell. HELLO!

We are still in a seller's market! I'm working with buyers who are writing full price offers because the listings have multiple offers.

Now I admit, some of the market is slow. I have listings in the $2-4million range that don't seem to be getting the kind of activity we used to get, but we are certainly still getting showings. Also I have a listing in Ocean Pointe right now that is getting lots of showings but no offers. Anyone want a condo in Ocean Pointe?