Oahu's housing market posted modest median price gains in July but fell a little shy of setting any records.
Previously owned single-family homes on the island sold for a median $789,500 last month, up 5.3% from $750,000 a year earlier, according to a report released Monday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.
The July price mark was just $500 short of this year's high point of $790,000 reached in April and the record set at $795,000 in June 2017.
Condominiums on the island sold for a median $429,500 in July. That was up slightly, 1.1%, from $425,000 in the same month last year.
Compared with single-family houses, the condo market on Oahu has been setting new price records more often since 2017. Last year there were three new condo median sale price peaks, and two records were set earlier this year: $430,000 in January and $435,000 in March.
Given all the recent record-breaking, to some observers small year-over-year price gains in July seem tame.
"The market is experiencing a leveling off after last year's record prices and paces," Darryl Macha, president of the trade association representing residential real estate sales agents on Oahu, said in a statement.
In a broader annual view, median prices for Oahu single-family homes and condos have risen for the last six years, and the market is on pace to extend the trend for a seventh.
The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in March projected that the growth in Oahu home median sale prices also will continue for at least the next two years, with a 1.9% increase for single-family homes next year followed by 1.2% in 2020, and a 3.8% increase for condos next year followed by a 3.6% gain in 2020.
The median price is a point at which half the sales are at a higher price and half at a lower price. Sales reported by the Honolulu Board of Realtors reflect transactions completed in July, which typically reflect sales contracts signed one to three months earlier.
Last month the volume of sales dipped for single-family homes but was modestly higher for condos.
There were 330 single-family homes sold in July, down 1.5% from 335 a year earlier. The slight decline made July the third month in a row with fewer sales year-over-year.
In the condo market the number of sales rose 5.7% to 502 last month from 475 a year earlier.
Macha said in an interview that there are signs that the volume of sales may be easing up based on dips in the number of sales that were pending last month and still subject to closing. But he also noted that the number of new homes listed for sale in July was up from the prior month and that the total inventory of homes listed for sale remains at a relatively high level, both of which present more choices for buyers and could allow for more sales.
Sellers added 519 single-family homes and 742 condos to inventory for sale last month. Overall, there were 1,382 single-family homes and 2,090 condos available for sale at the end of last month, which represented a high this year for single-family homes and the second-highest level for condos this year.
On the other hand, negative influences on home sale volumes include interest rates, which have been on a slow upward trend that reduces the purchasing power for buyers, and higher home prices that put properties out of reach for a bigger segment of buyers.
