Hawaii Real Estate starts Here!

February 2, 2005

Honolulu : The HBR Announces January Residential Resales Statistics

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:

Judith Kalbrener, President of the Honolulu Board of Realtors®, said, “We begin the new year with a robust start. Reported sales in January were 333 single family homes and 570 condominiums. These sales compare to the same month last year of 342 and 558, respectively, approximately the same sales picture. Prices, however, continued to rise. In January, the median price paid for a single family dwelling was $505,000, a new Oahu record, and $224 for a condominium. These prices are ahead of January 2004 by 26.3% and 19.8%, respectively, and have increased 2.0% and 3.2% just since last month. Total dollar sales volume for the month was $379 million, an increase of 23.1% over last year’s $308 million.”

Harvey Shapiro, Research Economist at the Board of Realtors®, said, “Prices in the Oahu housing market continued on their upward trend. Price increases were anticipated by the Board and the expectation is that, although there will probably be little change in market growth from 2004 record levels, price appreciation should continue throughout the year.”

Shapiro continued, “Even with the higher prices, home ownership continues to be more attainable now than in the early 90′s, due to higher incomes and much more favorable financing costs. Mortgage rates will most likely rise in 2005, but if they remain below 6%, we expect that there will be minimal impact on our housing sales.”

The public is encouraged to visit the Board’s Internet web site at http://www.hicentral.com to see what’s happening in the housing market. The public has the ability to search through Oahu single-family home and condominium listings, available for sale and for rent, and to see a comprehensive guide of 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 celebrating 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 5,000, 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.)