Oahu's housing market took just a small step in August but crossed a big threshold to top the $800,000 price mark for the first time.
The median price paid for previously owned single-family homes hit $810,000 last month, according to a Honolulu Board of Realtors report released Thursday.
That sale figure was just 3% higher than $786,250 a year ago, but it broke a more than year-old prior high of $795,000 reached in June 2017.
A median price of $810,000 means that half of all the sales last month were for more than $810,000, and half the sales were for less.
There were 354 sales in August, which was down 2% from 362 sales in the same month last year.
Topping $800,000 might shock some observers, especially people shopping for homes, but market watchers expected the mark would be reached this year or next year given steady appreciation of median prices over the last several years.
"When we step back and look at the last 12 months as a whole, what we're really seeing is the steady, continued price growth that we've been experiencing for eight years now," Scott Higashi, president and CEO of local real estate brokerage firm Locations, said in a company report.
On an annual median sale price level, the market topped $700,000 in 2015 after topping $600,000 in 2012. During those four years, annual increases ranged between 3.7% and 7.8%.
For the first eight months of this year, the median single-family home sale price is $785,000. That's up 3.7% from $757,000 in the same period last year.
It's unlikely that the annual median sale price this year will top $800,000 with just four months to go.
The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization in March forecast that this year's median price would be $784,200 and then rise 1.9% to $798,900 next year, followed by a 1.2% increase to $808,800 in 2020.
Darryl Macha, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, tried to present the more affordable side of the median price equation by saying in the board's report that homebuyers are also finding properties at or below $600,000.
Homes that sold last month for not much less than $600,000 largely were average-condition properties in Ewa and some excellent- condition residences in Maili and Makaha. There also was a Pacific Palisades house in need of major repair and a tear-down in Pearl City, sale records show.
One buyer last month paid $810,000 for a 1,368-square-foot house built in 1994 on a 5,562-square-foot lot in Mililani Mauka. This home was listed at $815,000 on July 12 and went into escrow July 20 with an accepted offer.
Condominiums on Oahu typically sell in greater volumes than single-family homes and provide a more affordable option for many buyers.
The median condo sale price in August was $427,000 and represented a 2% increase from $419,000 a year earlier. The record was set at $435,000 in March.
There were 521 condo sales last month, down 9% from 575 a year a year earlier.
Generally, inventory of homes for sale on Oahu is tight, which may be why sales of single-family homes and condos were lower in August. Also, the number of sales that were pending at the end of last month was down 12% for condos and 15% for single-family homes.
Tight inventory can put upward pressure on prices by creating more competition among prospective buyers.
