Oahu's housing market broke two price records in July, including one that had stood for more than a year.
The Honolulu Board of Realtors reported today that median sale prices for previously owned single-family homes and condominiums reached new peaks last month that were higher than any month before.
Single-family homes sold for a median $835,000 in July, up 5.8% from $789,500 in the same month last year. The prior record was $812,500 in September.
For condos, the median sale price last month rose 7.5% to $461,500 from $429,500 a year earlier. The old record of $435,000 was more than a year old and was set in March 2018.
Jenny Brady, Honolulu Board of Realtors president, suggested in a statement that lower mortgage interest rates may have enabled buyers to pursue more expensive homes.
Brady noted that there were 80 single-family home sales last month for between $900,000 and $1.2 million compared with 51 sales in the same range a year earlier. A similar boost happened in Oahu's condo market, where there were 149 sales for between $500,000 and $699,999 in July compared with 106 sales in the same range a year earlier.
The number of sales overall was higher in July, the trade association report said.
Single-family home purchases rose 12.7% to 372 last month from 330 a year earlier. Condo purchases edged up 2.2% to 513 from 502 in the same period.
