Real Estate Report - November 2023

O'ahu Market Update 

Every month, we dive into the numbers and hope that they tell us a story of what happened and what will happen. Last month, prices shifted upwards because the drop in homes for sale was greater than the drop in demand for those homes. When there is less inventory as compared to demand, prices rise. In October, we saw pending sales drop by 3% while active inventory dropped by 4.6%. The result was an increase in both the median price and the average price for single-family homes. The median price rose to $1,100,000 a 4.8% increase, and the average price jumped to $1,304,757, an increase of 4.9%. Condos did the opposite. Active inventory rose by 9.4% while pending sales dropped by 5% resulting in a drop in median price by 1% ($550,000) and a drop in average price by .9% ($670,805).

October also saw mortgage interest rates rise and fall. For most of the month, interest rates soared, reaching the highest levels we have seen in over 2 decades, followed by a decline in the last week of the month. The driver of the market over the past 2 years has been mortgage interest rates, putting a strain on demand and affordability. Interest rates began to rise 2 years ago, resulting in a drop in closed homes sales by 41% over that 2 year span. Will the shift we saw at the end of October end the 2 year stretch of choked demand? While we won’t know until it actually happens, it is something we must keep an eye on.

The other indicators reported in October continued the 2-year trend we have been seeing. Months of inventory continued to rise (2.9 months) and the sales price to list price