Condos Sales Far Outpace Single-Family Home Activity in Bustling Housing Market
Metro region surges in popularity, marking substantial increases in property sales for single-family homes, condos
According to resales figures released today by the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®, closed sales of single-family homes rose 49.3%, and condo sales skyrocketed 134.0% compared to this time last year when real estate activity first began to pick up following the economic standstill brought on by the pandemic. The median sales price of a single-family home edged past last month’s record to reach $979,000, while the condo median sales price of $460,000 was just shy of the standing record of $461,500 from July 2019.
Using data collected from its computerized Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system, the Board reported the following statistics:
Single-Family Home Resales
| Number of Sales | Median Sales Price | |
|---|---|---|
| June 2021 | 451 +49.3% | $979,000 +27.1% |
| June 2020 | 302 | $770,000 |
Condominium Resales
| Number of Sales | Median Sales Price | |
|---|---|---|
| June 2021 | 730 +134% | $460,000 +9.1% |
| June 2020 | 312 | $421,500 |
The condo market continues to bustle with activity, setting a new record low days on the market at a median of just 11 days. Single-family homes continue to move into escrow quickly, spending a median of 8 days on the market. Sellers added much-needed inventory to the market, with June marking a 23.0% increase in new single-family home listings and a 31.1% increase in condo listings.
“We are in a vastly different market now compared to this time last year, when activity was slowly starting to ramp up versus now where properties are moving into escrow in record time,” said Shannon Heaven, president, Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “In particular, the condo market surged in 2021 because some buyers decided not to pursue a single-family home due to the severe lack of inventory and competitive bidding wars.”
So far, in 2021, the trend of properties selling over the asking price persists, with 57.7% of single-family homes and 32.9% of condos closing above the original asking price. These over-asking price sales confirm bidding wars are occurring predominantly in mid-range price points for single-family home properties, with 57.0% of those sales in the $600,000 to $999,999 range. Inventory in this price bracket for single-family homes is down 37.0% compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, in the condo market, 66% of sales above the original asking price occurred in the $400,000 to $699,999 price range.
Year-to-date, the regions with the most substantial increase in single-family home sales were Diamond Head and the Metro area, up 84.4.% and 76.2%, respectively. The Metro region – which covers Mapunapuna and Kalihi all the way through Waikīkī and Moiliili – was also popular in the condo market with a 79.4% jump in sales, and the Ewa region marked a 60.2% increase in sales.
“The steep competition and prevalence of bidding wars illustrate the extreme lack of inventory we are facing on O‘ahu,” added Heaven. “We are in desperate need of more properties to house our local families, especially in the affordable to mid-range price points.”