Four in 10 Oahu Homes Sold for Above Asking Price in October 2020

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Anne Cicero

Locations

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Four in 10 Oahu Homes Sold for Above Asking Price in October 2020

Competitive market conditions to continue into 2021

HONOLULU – (Nov. 5, 2020) – Locations—Hawaii’s leading real estate firm— published its Oahu Residential Real Estate Report for the 12-month period ending October 2020. This is a comparison to the previous 12-month period ending October 2019:

• Single-family home median prices rose by 11 percent over the previous year to $869,000 for the month of October, while condo median prices held steady at $440,000. Sustained prices for the past 12 months are up four percent over last year for single-family homes at $818,000 and up one percent for condos at $430,000. 
• Sales of both single-family homes and condos are now on the upswing after dipping last spring at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past 12 months, home sales are up one percent over 2019, while condo sales are 14 percent lower. 
• Days on Market, an indicator of a competitive market, remained at an all-time low of just 11 days for single-family homes in October. Condos were on the market for a median of just 18 days in October—a two-year low. 
• Bid-ups, another indicator of competition, reached an all-time high of 43.3 percent for single-family homes in October. Condo bid-ups hit 20 percent in October, the highest in more than two years. 

“In the more than 40 years that Locations has tracked the Oahu real estate market, we’ve never seen nearly half of all single-family homes bid up above the asking price,” said President and CEO of Locations Jason Lazzerini. “We’ve never seen homes fly off the market as quickly as they did in October, either,” he added.

“With mortgage interest rates below three percent for several months now, the market has widened for buyers and sellers. However, a lack of single-family home inventory is a limiting factor for some,” Lazzerini added, noting that future homebuyers will have more options for homes priced above $1M and in certain neighborhoods were inventory is higher.

“Although competition for condos is not as fierce, it’s heating up as more buyers are out bid on single-family homes or unable to find a home in their neighborhood of choice. As a result, condo inventory is beginning to drop, too,” Lazzerini said.

At the local market level, Ewa was the top-performing single-family home market in October, with home sales up six percent over last year. Median home prices in Ewa rose four percent to $705,000, as Days on Market fell by half compared to a year ago to just 12 days. Currently, there are only 32 single-family homes for sale in Ewa, a 73-percent decrease.

Kailua was the top-performing condo market in October, with a five-percent increase in sales and an eight-percent increase in median price to $620,000. With just 19 condos for sale in Kailua in October, available inventory would fall to zero in just 1.8 months if no new listings were to come online.

Locations recommends that homebuyers and sellers partner with an experienced Realtor®, as local markets perform differently. Locations agents are able to serve their clients safely while complying with the State of Hawaii’s health and safety guidelines. Virtual meetings, home tours and open houses are also available.

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About Locations As the state’s oldest and leading independent real estate firm, our trusted Neighborhood Experts have served Hawaii’s families since 1969. For more than 50 years, Locations has helped more people buy or sell their homes than any other real estate firm in the state. With our rich kama’aina roots, innovative technology and dedicated market-research department, Locations continues to be at the forefront of this ever-changing industry. Today, Locations has 300 agents in five offices across Oahu. Through our non-profit, the Locations Foundation, our agents and staff support more than 100 Hawaii non-profit organizations both through monetary donations and volunteer hours. Visit LocationsHawaii.com/about-us today to learn more. For up-to-date Hawaii real estate updates, follow Locations on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/LocationsHawaii, Twitter at @LocationsHI, Instagram at @LocationsHawaii, and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/locations-hawaii. Read the Locations blog at: www.LocationsHawaii.com/news.