Number Crunching: October Real Estate Stats for Honolulu

The October real estate numbers for Honolulu from the Honolulu Board of Realtors were just released yesterday, and the news is, well, shruggable. Here are a few notable points:

• For the month of October, closed sales of single-family homes were down nearly 17 percent compared to Oct. 2009; condos were down about 21 percent. The decreases could be attributed to the fact that, at this time last year, the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit was in full swing. However, the year-to-date numbers were a little stronger: Thus far this year, both single-family home and condo sales have increased about 16 percent over the same period in 2009.

• There wasn’t a lot of fluctuation in the median sales price category. This past month, the median price of single-family homes was $595,750, down about one percent compared to Oct. 2009, while the median sales price of condos, $300,000, remained the same.

• The decrease in the number of days on market—the median number of days between when a property is first listed and when it is pending sale—continues to be an indicator of faster turnover. Last month, single-family homes were on the market for 35 days, nearly 33 percent fewer days than Oct. 2009. Condos lingered on the market for 34 days last month, a 37-percent decrease from Oct. 2009.

• Inventory continues to decline. There were 11 percent fewer single-family homes on the market last month compared to Oct. 2009; there were 5 percent fewer condos listed for sale compared to October of last year.