Though the greater Hawaiian real estate market has been off greatly since the beginning of the financial crisis and the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble, with vastly lower and falling prices, rising foreclosures and inventory and slowing sales, recent figures in Honolulu show that the state's capital may now -- or if not now, soon -- be through the worst of it.
According to the Star Bulletin, real estate in Honolulu is picking up as both sales volume and home prices rose in September. Single-family home sales were up by 13.5% year-over-year, with 244 transactions, while the median sales price rose 1.7% to $590,000. Though not a steep increase in price, the increase is a welcome change from the continual price slides many Hawaiian markets continue to witness. Condominium sales, more popular in Hawaii than in most markets, were also up by 13.1%, with 345 transactions, while their median prices also rose, by 3% to $305,000.
"Consumer psychology appears to be decisively turning for the better as the housing market has been showing signs of bottoming, if it is not already past a bottom point," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, told the Star Bulletin.
The yearly statistics are still down, though, as total single-family home sales are down 16.3% are condo sales are down 26.3%. Through September, the median price paid for homes for sale in Honolulu on Oahu in 2009 is $575,000; the price for a condo is $300,000. Statewide, combined home and condominium sales in the second quarter were flat for the year, suggesting that perhaps the Honolulu real estate market has made it through the worst of the down market. http://www.starbulletin.com