Honolulu real estate The March 4th Hawaii real estate stats are out!

Honolulu real estate statistics were released yesterday for February 08.

In Metro Oahu, what we call "core Honolulu", home prices actually rose by 9.4%, while the number of sales fell by 35.5%. In East Oahu real estate, the highest priced area on Oahu, and the most desirable to most, the median prices of homes rose 1.5%, while the average price rose an astonishing 25% to $1,520,669.

If it seems strange that prices can rise while the number of sales falls, let me explain for you. When the market was red hot, people were not only buying more than now, people were selling more than now. People who had made massive price gains in a quick period of time were "cashing in," and now that the market has slowed, a lot of people who were previously on the market are now just living in their homes, content to watch the market go on without them.

Here are some numbers that prove this point: Last month only 163 single family homes were sold on Oahu, and while that sounds like bad news for the Honolulu real estate market, our inventory was barely any higher at the end of the month, only 1924 homes available. The previous month there were 1876 Oahu homes for sale.

The number of new listings however, was 565. So if only 163 homes sold, where did the rest go? They are off the market completely. Sellers are sitting tight. Another good sign in our market is that the number of days on market actually DECLINED from 61 days to 59 days. Homes are selling 2 days faster!??!?!

Now of course, the big news is that the median price on all of Oahu real estate fell from $600k to $599k. It's the first time we have been under $600k in several years. But all that means is that cheaper homes are selling while more expensive ones are not. It doesn't mean prices are dropping all over Oahu.

Case in point - in Moanalua and Kalihi, the median price is up 21% since last year. In Hawaii Kai, prices are up 19%. In Kapahulu and Diamond Head, prices are up 9.9% since last year.

But while prices in some areas of Oahu have gone up, other areas have seen buyers getting incredible deals as prices drop. In the Ewa Beach area, prices have dropped 10.4%, and there are certain neighborhoods that have dropped more like 15%.