February 2009 Housing Stats From HBR

Here is a brief summary of the attached pdf from HBR:

          SALES: The number of Single Family Home sales was up over January’s 122 by just a bit at 129, and still way below last year’s 163.  Condo sales of 160 were just 1 over the 159 of January and about ½ of last years 321.

          PRICES: Single Family Home prices of $555,000 were up from January’s $539,500, and below last years $599,000.  Condos were at $297,000, down slightly from January’s $305,000 and below last years $335,000.  The media will be howling at full voice.  Time will tell, however, and we may have seen our bottoms.  The September 2008 condo median of $296,000 and January `09 SFH of $539,000 may be the bottoms.  We will know in a few months.

          DOM: Days on Market were down for SFH to 69 in February from 71 in January 09 and above last years 59.  Condos were up from January’s 59 to 70 in February 09 and above February 08’s 50 days. 

          INVENTORY: Inventories were about the same, with SFH at 1,928, up from January’s 1,903 and almost identical to February 2008’s number of 1,924.  Condos were up slightly to 2,507 from January’s 2,494 and above February 2008’s 2,476.  Again, inventories are remaining relatively flat.

          MORI: And now for the weird one, month’s of remaining inventory. SFH was at 15.8, up from January’s 9.8 and February 2008’s 8.4.  Condos were also 15.8, up from 10.3 in January and 7.6 in February of 2008.  These numbers don’t make much sense and will probably settle down next month.  These big MORI numbers just appear from time to time.

Let’s see what kind of headlines the Advertiser and the Bulletin will put out tommorow, it should be interesting.

Post from: Hawaii Real Estate Reporter

A Closer Look at January 2009 Hawaii Housing Stats from HBR

Hawaii Single Family Home Prices

$635,000 for August. Up from July’s $620,000. This is lower than August 2008 of $650,000. We are still up against the record-setting months of 2007 for SFH median prices, so expect that the media to continue to crow about prices falling. Median prices are down 2.8% compared to last year, average prices up 1.9% with Waialae-Kahala leading the way, up 9.9% year to date over last year.

Hawaii Condo Prices

$328,000 for August. Higher than the $325,000 for August 2007, and just under July’s $329,900. Median prices up 1.5% compared to last year, average prices up 2.9% with downtown-Nuuanu up 16.1%. Prices falling? Not Condos.

Single Family Home Sales

SFH sales at 255 were up for the second straight month. However, sales are down from 381 for August 2007. The August 2007 sales of 381 were the highest for the entire year of 2007. So expect the media to be all over the Huge Decline in sales from last year. Starting in September, the media isn’t going to have much to say because September 2007 SFH sales were 255.

Condo Sales

Condo sales were at 345 for August, down 20 from July and down from August 2007 of 495. In summary, it looks like sales have flattened out, and we may be at the “normal market” range now. Looks like the SFH at ~250; Condos at ~350 may become the norm.

Days on Market (SFH)

The average amount of time that a single family home spends on market is still very low and has gone down this month. This number indicates how long it is taking for people to sell their homes-a low number is an indicator of good market health. At 46 days, DOM for single family homes is down from July’s 52 and just 2 above July 2007’s 44.

Days on Market (Condo)

At 48, DOM are up from July’s 42 and up from 2007’s 38. Again, these are still excellent DOM numbers. Consistent all year.

Inventory

Very steady at 2,119 for SFH and 2,743 for condos. Again, very consistent numbers for 2008.

Months of Remaining Inventory

This stat tells us how long it would theoretically take for all the homes currently on the market to get sold. SFH 8.4, down from July’s 9.0; and Condo at 7.5, down from July’s 7.8. We see solid numbers with an encouraging month-over-month trend.

Post from: Hawaii Real Estate Reporter

A Closer Look at the August 2008 Honolulu Board of Realtors Statistics

From the Tuesday, August 5 Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Market Stabilizing.

Versus the Honolulu Advertiser on the same date

Hawaii Median Home Sale Prices Drop 3.1 Percent on Oahu

(It’s a good thing that the Advertiser headline clarifies that the price drops on Oahu are in Hawaii. There is no redundancy in that headline nor is there any redundancy in the same headline of the newspaper the honolulu advertiser newspaper of Hawaii. That’s just poor journalism-and it gives us a clue about which article we should believe.)

The Star-Bulletin article does a good job of describing what’s going on. If anyone anyone actually takes the time to read it, they should feel much better about the market.

Both articles, however, failed to mention that sales actually increased in July 2008 over June of 2008.

When we hear about price drops from 2007-2008 we should keep in mind the fact that 2007 was a record year for prices. Of course it is unlikely that we will be able to match the record-setting median prices of 2007 in 2008. July’s median SFH price of $620,000 was not much less than July 2007’s of $640,000. August 2007 was $650,000 however, so expect sensationalist headlines about “price drops”, regardless of whether or not the situation is improving.

Post from: Hawaii Real Estate Reporter

Headlines Duke it out over Meaning of Honolulu Board of Realtors July 2008 Housing Stats