Oahu home prices plummeting

The Honolulu Advertiser carries this report:

There's been a dramatic turn in O'ahu's residential real estate market in the last year.

It's as though value is evaporating into the salty air — $50,000 here, $150,000 there, $720,000 in Choi's case.

This turn hasn't been reflected in regularly reported median sale prices, which continue to be up in year-to-year comparisons. The median price for a single-family home on O'ahu in August was $635,000, up 1.6 percent from a year ago.

The whole article is a must-read. This is the one that we all knew was coming; irrefutable proof that we're transitioning to a buyer's market. More highlights:

According to O'ahu home sale data available at Kaufman's Web site, OahuRE.com, there were 1,798 cases of sellers dropping their asking price last month, compared with only 633 a year earlier.

The number of price drops for homes on the market, which includes more than one drop for the same property, has been steadily rising from 1,081 in January to 1,604 last week. The average drop for single-family homes was 7.6 percent.

It's a fire sale, folks!

The median list price on O'ahu hit a peak in May 2005 at $850,000 and now stands at $770,000. Median list prices for single-family homes have been below their year-ago levels in each month this year except January.

The whole thing, including some nifty graphics, is here.

Oahu prices level, sales down

The Star Bulletin reports that sales have plunged on Oahu but prices are still level:

As prices continued to rise, the number of sales of both single-family homes and condominiums dropped. The number of houses sold fell 22.8 percent to 351 in August from the year-earlier 455. Condominium sales also declined 30.2 percent to 580 last month from the 831 in August of 2005.

Something's going to give; there's a house on our street that's been on the market for 7 months now. Last year, that house would have been snapped up in a week. How long until sellers start slashing prices?

Neighbor Island Report: Sales plunge

From the Star Bulletin comes this report that sales have declined dramatically on the neighbor islands:

» On the Big Island: Only 169 homes were sold in August, compared to 256 at the same time last year.

» On Kauai: Sales dropped to 35 in August compared to 56 at the same time last year.

» On Maui: Sales fell to 95 compared to 129 in August 2005.

Prices were up on Maui and Kauai, but Big Island prices have fallen 14% over last year.

Home sales were notably lower in the high-end resort areas of North and South Kohala. Only 11 homes were sold in South Kohala, compared to 29 in August 2005.

"Whether the market turns, whether up or down, resort areas are always the ones to feel it first," said Dana Kenny, broker in charge of Hawaiian Island Homes in Hilo. "The market has slowed here, and you're seeing some price adjustment. But I don't believe we're looking at a market-turn type of situation as much as a correction."