Oahu home prices up, sales down

The Advertiser reports that the median single-home price for Q1 was $625,000:

Single-family homes sold for a median price of $625,000 between January and March, up 18 percent from $529,100 in the same quarter a year earlier.

The 18 percent rise was down from 27 percent in the year-over-year comparison for the fourth quarter, and down from 31 percent in the third quarter, when the board began publishing quarterly sales data.

...

The volume of sales was down 3 percent for single-family homes and down 5 percent for condos during the quarter. That was a smaller decline than the fourth quarter when sales dropped 11 percent for both types of homes but about even with the decline in the third quarter.

Pacific Business News digs deeper:

A total of 943 homes were sold in the first quarter of 2006, down 33 compared to the first quarter of 2005. The median price, however, was considerably higher, at $625,000 compared to $529,100 last year.

They also provide a nice breakdown of median home and condo prices by neighborhood:

Homes:

• Metro Oahu: $735,000
• Diamond Head: $993,000
• Hawaii Kai: $850,000
• Kailua: $780,000
• North Shore: $900,000
• Leeward Coast: $355,000
• Ewa Plain: $515,000
• Pearl City: $590,000

Condominiums:

• Metro Oahu: $300,000
• Diamond Head: $450,000
• Hawaii Kai: $555,000
• Kailua: $412,000
• North Shore: $327,000
• Leeward Coast: $178,000
• Ewa Plain: $309,500
• Pearl City: $280,000

Diamond Head and North Shore are thisclose to breaking $1 million. Think it'll happen Q2? Later? Never?