I’m reading on the National front that sales of new homes unexpectedly rose in February. A Commerce report indicated new-home sales jumped 4.7 percent from a record low pace in January.

February Oahu Home sales for single family were 129, and 160 condos for a total of 289. There wasa total of 4,435 homes on the market in the Multiple Listing Service. (1,928 SF and 2,507 Condos) This brings us to 15.8 months of inventory remaining, up from 10 months in January. According to the National Association of Realtors a balanced, normal market has 6 months of inventory. Mortgage rates are still under 5% in many cases, so if your credit score is good enough to qualify you for financing or you are paying cash it is a shopping spree out there!

I keep hearing on the local news “The Median prices are up from last year!”… that can be misleading. Do you know that Median price is a number that can be skewed by one high end sale? If you have three homes in a neighborhood that sold for $450,000 and one that sold for $650,000, that one high sale will drive the “Median” upwards. Truth be told Oahu overall is down around 33% + from this time last year. However, some neighborhoods such as East Oahu and the Town-Kaakakao Corridor are holding values very nicely. Oahu is NOT one Real Estate market, it is many individual niches!

If you want to know what exactly is going on in your niche neighborhood give me a call, I can give you a “Market Snapshot” specific to your area.