January

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

Mary Begier, 2004 President of the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®, said, "2004 began very strongly for Oahu residential resales. In January, 342 single family homes and 558 condominiums changed hands through the Board's Multiple Listing Service computer, increases of 23.0% and 17.2% over the sales at the same time last year. The median price paid for a single family home during January was $400,000, a new record for Oahu, and an increase of 14.3% from the price of $350,000 paid one year ago. Since last month, median prices have risen 0.3% and 3.9%, respectively. The median price of a condominium was $187,000, an increase of 12.5% from the same time period last year. The total dollar volume of sales in the Honolulu housing sales market for January is $308 million, an increase of 49.0% higher than the $207 million sold in last year in the same month."

Harvey Shapiro, Research Economist at the Board of REALTORS®, said, "The Oahu residential housing market continued its upward surge in January, with much higher sales than one year ago. Not only are the number of sales increasing, but prices are also maintaining their upward push, with a new peak median price of $400,000 for a single family home established during January."

Shapiro continued, "In their meeting last week, the Governors of the Federal Reserve hinted that interest rates may be going higher sooner than expected, although they left rates unchanged at their January meeting. The low mortgage rates, therefore, will tend to maintain the expansion in the housing market that we've been experiencing."

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 82nd 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 4,500, 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.)