Number crunching: November sales numbers

As the holidays get underway, people have less time to think about shopping for a home, so you'll rarely see a spike for real estate sales in November. The Honolulu Board of Realtors (HBR) shared their monthly sales statistics for November 2011, which didn't indicate any significant changes over last year.

Here's an overview of the sales for November 2011:

The number of single-family home sales increased just 1.2 percent, from 248 in November 2010 to 251 in November 2011.

The median price paid for single-family homes remained relatively flat at $580,000 for the month.

The number of condo sales saw a slight bump upward, with 333 units sold-a 5.4 percent increase over November 2010.

The median condo price, however, bumped the other way. In November 2011, the median sales price was $295,000, whereas it was $312,000 in November 2010-a 5.4 percent decrease.

According to the Days on Market indicator, sales of single-family homes and condominiums closed at a faster pace last month compared to a year ago, with homes listing for 35 days and condominiums listing for 42 days.

"We are pleased to see that sales of both single-family homes and condominiums have increased compared to last year. In fact, this is the fourth month in a row that condominium sales have been up, as buyers take advantage of lower prices and quicker deals and the inventory clears out," says Joyce Nakamura, President of the Honolulu Board of Realtors. "This is pretty positive news given that November is historically one of the slowest months for real estate sales."