Oahu Upscale Real Estate Report
June 2011
Quick Summary
Oahu Single Family Homes Sales: down 15% from last year; up 5% from last month.
Oahu Condos Sales: down 6% from last year, down 10% from last month.
Oahu SFH Escrows: up 1% from last year; up 1% from last month.
Oahu Condos Escrows: up 29% from last year; up 15% from last month.
Oahu SFH Median Selling Price: down 6% from last year; down 1% from last month.
Oahu Condos MSP: down 8% from last year; down 3% from last month.
Oahu SFH Months on Hand: 5.8, Neutral to Seller's Market
Oahu Condos Months on Hand: 5.0, Seller's Market
Oahu Upscale Sales: down 3% from last year, up 6% from last month.
Oahu Upscale Escrows: down 24% from last year, up 18% from last month
Oahu Upscale Price/Square Foot: flat with last year, up 11% from last month.
Oahu Total Market:
The data provided in the Oahu Upscale Real Estate Report differs from that provided by the
Honolulu Board of Realtors and reported in the press because the Board includes every
property listed in the Honolulu MLS system, including properties on the other islands. We
believe that it is more accurate to look only at Oahu properties, and so we removed all non-
Oahu properties from our data.
Sold Volume
233 Single Family Homes (SFH) on Oahu were sold in May, down 15% from last year and up
5% from April. 317 Condos were sold in May, down 7% from last year and down 10% from April.
238 new Escrows were opened for SFH in May 2011, up 1% from last year and up 1% from
Escrow Volume
April. 361 new Escrows were opened for Condos, up 29% from last year and up 15% from April.
Months' Inventory on Hand
Months' Inventory On Hand is the best indicator of market conditions, as it combines current active inventory levels with future sales (based on current escrows). At the end of May 2011,
there were 5.8 months' of inventory of SFH, down 4% from last year and up 5% from the end of
April. Condos have 5.0 months' inventory on hand, down 25% from last year and down 14%
from April. Please see the data table for the breakdown by region, as it varies considerably
throughout Oahu. High or rising Months' On Hand suggest greater bargaining power for buyers;
while low levels should result in stable to rising prices. 5 to 7 Months On Hand is generally
considered to be equilibrium levels. The low recent Months On Hand has created tight market
conditions and a bit of the feeling of a "seller's market". The graph later in the report makes it
easy to see the strong relationship between pricing and Months On Hand.
Median Selling Price (MSP) of properties sold is the most commonly used measure for price
Median Selling Price
comparisons but can be misleading, especially when applied to small market segments, as it
often represents a changing mix of sales rather than movements in price. The Median Selling
Price for May 2011 SFH was $580,000 down 6% from last year and down 1% from last month.
For Condos, the Median Selling Price for May was $289,000, down 8% from last year and down
3% from last month. Once again, please see the data tables later on in the report to see the
variation by region.
Average Price per Square Foot
Average price per square foot ($PSF) is an alternative measure of price comparison, which is
less likely to be affected by the mix of specific properties sold in any given month. The May
2011 $PSF for SFH sold on Oahu was $410, flat with last year and up 4% from April. For
Condos sold in May 2011, the $PSF was $403 down 8% from last year and down 7% from April.
Oahu Upscale Market:(Defined as Homes and Condos over $1 million)
Sold Volume33 Single Family Homes sold for over $1 Million in May 2011, down 3% from last year and up
6% from April 2011. In addition, 4 Condos sold for over $1 Million in May. Although there is
considerable fluctuation from month to month, the chart below shows a generally rising 12
month average volume, reflecting the recovering upscale market.
Escrow Volume
26 SFH which were listed for over $1 Million opened new escrows in May 2011, down 24% from
last year and up 18% from April. In addition, 9 condos listed for over $1 Million opened new
escrows in May.
Average Price per Square Foot
For a price segment such as Upscale Homes, Average Price per Square Foot ($PSF) is the
best measurement. Upscale Single Family Homes closed in May averaged $570 PSF, flat with
last year and up 11% from April. A quick look at the graph below shows that, while there is
always variation from month to month, and the 12 month moving average currently shows a
slight downtrend, for the most part, prices have been fairly stable over the past 5 years at just
under $600 per foot. Upscale Condos closed in May averaged $1031 PSF, up 9% from last
year and up 2% from last month. (Because the number of Upscale Condos sold each month is
so small, this figure tends to be highly variable and not particularly meaningful for any single
month.)
Months Inventory On Hand
Upscale Homes typically take longer to sell than average priced homes, and should be viewed
in its historical context as opposed to compared directly to the overall market. Inventory of
upscale SFH at the end of May represents 15 months' inventory on hand at the pace of May's
new escrows.
Report produced by Elite Pacific Properties, Hawaii's Upscale Real Estate Experts.
Learn more at
www.elitepacific.com
or call (808) 589-2040.
