Is Inventory Really at an All-time Low?

If you listen to the word on the street, housing options on Oahu seem to be getting farther and farther out of reach.  The Honolulu Star Advertiser described the situation last week in a featured story:

The limited supply of single-family homes on Oahu pushed the median price beyond $700,000 in June, tying the record set a year ago and placing homeownership out of reach for many first-time buyers.

"Affordable now is typically a condominium … unless they have help from family along with higher income," said Dennis Oshiro, executive director of the Hawaii Homeownership Center, a nonprofit that provides financial education to prospective first-time homebuyers.

With the median Single Family Home (SFH) prices climbing over $700,000 in July and median condo prices hitting $390,000, its clear that overall the market is experiencing a housing shortage and median price increases. But after taking a closer look at the data, our findings painted a much more nuanced picture. 

Your options expand the closer you look.  To get the full picture you need to think in terms of market areas.  

For the state of Hawaii as a whole, the number of sales remains the same for single-family homes but are up 5% for condos when compared to last month. Median condo prices are down 12% when compared to May2015, and down 8% from a year ago. Statewide, it took a median of 36 days to sell a single-family home and 29 days to sell a condo.

For the state of Hawaii as a whole, the number of sales are up 19% for single-family homes and are up 8% for condos when compared to last month. The numbers show that median single-family home prices are down 5% when compared to last month and up 5% when compared to April 2014. Median condo prices are down 3% when compared to March, and up 5% from a year ago. Statewide, it took a median of 35 days to sell a single-family home and 30 days to sell a condo.

It was a splendidly beautiful Saturday morning in Honolulu - the water was a brilliant blue and the cooling trade winds danced through the palms. A great day to be outside – a wonderful day for the Autism Speaks walk at Magic Island in Ala Moana.