July 26, 2010

Kailua real estate housing market

The Kailua housing market, part of the larger Oahu real estate market, rallied in the most recent tracking period despite possible indications that the market is slowing. According to a July 7, 2010 report from Hawaii News Now, “The first of the home sales reports from June show sellers are getting more of what they ask for and waiting fewer days to find a buyer. Realtors closed on 285 home sales on Oahu in June, for a median price of $575,000, compared to 263 closings a year ago for a median price of $570,000… There were 396 condo closings for a median $300,000, compared to 287 sales for a median price of $310,000 a year ago. The median is the point at which half the sales are for less and half for more. The median prices gives a sense of the market that the average price can fail to give if one or two really expensive or really cheap sales skew the numbers…Factors driving the market include expiration of federal home credit, which is thought to have taken some drive out of the market, and the lowest mortgage rates in half a century, the effect of which has been restricted, real estate agents say, by tight credit at local banks.”

The average purchase price of a Kailua home for sale barely increased in the month of June, suggesting that the market may be slowing. According to a July 7, 2010 report from the Honolulu Star Advertiser, “The median price for previously owned single-family homes sold on Oahu last month eked out a 0.9 percent gain to $575,000 from $570,000 in the same month last year, according to figures released today by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. The slight rise came on sales volume that was up 8.4 percent to 285 transactions from 263 in the same period. Condominium sales soared 38 percent to 396 in June from 287 a year earlier, but the median price was down 3.2 percent to $300,000 from $310,000.” There is also the possibility that both home sales and the median sales price may have been artificially altered by the federal tax credit that recently expired.