Honolulu Condo Prices Hit Record High in January

Condo prices in Honolulu jump 19 percent in the new year.

February 7, 2015

Jaymes Song,

Photo: Courtesy of Park Lane

The year 2015 got off to a fast start with condo prices soaring to new heights.

The median price for an existing condo on O‘ahu soared to a record $381,500 last month, a 19.2-percent jump over the $320,000 median in January 2014, according to the latest statistics released by the Honolulu Board of Realtors on Saturday.

The new mark broke the previous record of $361,250 set just a month earlier.

There were 286 units sold in January, down 7.7 percent from the same month last year.

Prices for single-family homes on O‘ahu, meanwhile, increased a more modest 7.2 percent to a $675,000, as the number of sales dropped 14.6 percent. There were 210 homes that exchanged hands during the month, compared to 246 in January 2015.

“This is traditionally one of the slowest months of the year, so the sluggish sales of single-family homes and, to a lesser extent, condos, is not too surprising,” says Jack Legal, president of the board.

Legal calls demand for housing “very high.” He adds, “the one factor that is putting a damper on the market is, as usual, the lack of inventory, especially for single-family homes.”

Inventory remains extremely tight islandwide.

According to the board, there were 2.6 “months of inventory” for single-family homes. “Months of inventory” is a gauge that means it would take about two-and-a-half months to sell all the listings currently on the market if no new inventory came on the market. A balanced market is considered five to seven months. Anything less is considered a seller’s market. For condos, there were three months of inventory.

O‘ahu is in the midst of a condo construction boom centered in the Kaka‘ako area with numerous new towers in the works. Thousands of units will be coming online over the next two to three years.

There have already been a few that have opened, such as One Ala Moana and Waihonua. Both are located near Ala Moana Center.

Resales of units in these two new buildings may have contributed to the jump in condo prices.