August

HONOLULU--Today, the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® released resale figures for the month of August. According to the analysis conducted by the Board, using data collected from its computerized Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system, the statistics are:

Guy Tamashiro, Chairman of the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®, said, "August was another month of decade records in the housing market. While single family homes sales were just one dwelling higher than last year, condominium sales soared. There were 557 closed sales reported through the Board's MLS during August, a 26.0% expansion compared to 442 sales last year, and the highest monthly sales since May 1990! Through August, sales for the year are 9.9% ahead of last year for single family homes and 19.9% for condominiums. The median price paid for a single family home was $360,000 last month, an increase of 17.3% from the $307,000 paid last year at the same time. The $150,000 median price paid for a condominium was up 16.3% from one year ago, although the price was higher last month. The year-to-date total dollar volume of sales rose to $1,634.5 million, a 21.8% boost from last year at the same time. This translates to a further $292.6 million being spent on residential property this year, a 21.8% jump from the same time in 2001."

Harvey Shapiro, Research Economist at the Board of REALTORS®, said, "Housing continues to be one of the few growth areas in the Hawaii economy, suffering virtually no ill effect from the tragic events of September 11. Residential sales on Oahu for the past twelve months have reached just below the 8,500 level, a sales level that is higher than any point since the end of 1990. From the elevated sales of condominiums, in particular, there can be no doubt that investors have been returning to the Oahu housing market and increasing the demand for properties."

Shapiro continued, "We experienced a slight increase of inventory this month but, at the current sales rate, the Months of Inventory Remaining indicators were an extremely low 3.3 months of single family homes and 2.7 months for condominiums. These statistics haven't been so low since the end of the Japanese bubble in 1989-1990. From our vantage point, there's no end in sight to this strong market, as long as we continue to have these historically low mortgage rates."

Chairman Tamashiro also stated, "The public is encouraged to visit the Board's Internet web site, Hawaii Real Estate Central, to see what's happening in the housing market. We've provided the public with the ability to search through Oahu single family home and condominium listings, available for sale and for rent, and to see those homes that will be open to visit this Sunday. All searches can be done by geographic location, price range or both. HiCentral.com provides useful information about buying and selling real estate in Hawaii."

The Honolulu Board of REALTORS® is in its 80th year of service to Oahu and is one of the largest of 1,500 boards of REALTORS® in the nation. It is also the largest trade organization on Oahu. Membership, which numbers approximately 3,600, is available to licensed real estate brokers and agents who agree to adhere to a strict Code of Ethics.

(This report reflects information about resales of existing properties only and does not include new home sales. All of the MLS information is compiled from sales reported during the cited months; this data is known only after closing of escrow. The time delay between the signing of a sales contract and the closing of escrow is usually between two and four months.)