Honolulu Board of Realtors November 2008 statistics

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

During November, sales of 170 single-family homes and 201 condominiums were reported through the Board’s MLS, decreases of 30.6 percent for single-family homes and 47 percent for condominiums, compared to the same month last year. This brings total single-family home sales on Oahu to 2,547 for the first eleven months of 2008, a decrease of 24.8 percent over the same time period one year ago. Total condominium sales through November were 3,690, a 28.3 percent decrease from last year. The median prices paid for island properties from January through November 2008 were $623,500 and $325,000, respectively, a decrease of 3.3 percent for single-family homes from the same time period in 2007 and no change for condominiums. The total dollar sales volume generated in the housing market for the first eleven months of this year was $3.447 billion, a decrease of 25.9 percent, or $1.203 billion, compared to the $4.650 billion produced one year ago.

“Although Oahu residential home sales declined substantially in November, our prices are still exhibiting much more stability than those for cities on the Mainland,” said Dana Chandler, President of the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “Time will tell what the complete effects of the current economic conditions will be, but we’re hopeful that the slowdown will be shallow and only of short-term duration here in the islands.”

“The demand for housing sales was the lowest in ten years but, interestingly, the inventory of both single-family homes and condominiums actually contracted a bit last month,” added Harvey Shapiro, Research Economist at the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “This lack of inventory buildup indicates a slowdown in our market rather than a collapse as some Mainland cities have, unfortunately, experienced.”

(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 one and three months.)