LUVA Real Estate wishes you all Happy Holidays and Mele Kalikimaka as we head into the last few weeks of the year. The good news? The real estate market is looking MUCH better than it did when we reported the October numbers last month, when we saw a 45% decrease in single family home sales!
In most parts of West Hawaii, motivated sellers are placing their homes on the market to take advantage of the incoming slew of potential home buyers who will be looking for a new home during the holidays and into January. Combine the increase in listings with a small slowdown in the pace of sales, and buyers are finding a little more to choose from in a market that has been starved for inventory.
If you are looking at making West Hawaii home, the market has shifted from a year ago, with the median price of a single family home at $719,000 compared to $725,000, a drop of .76% year over year according to data from the Hawaii Information Service’s November 2018 statistics. The condo market for North Kona saw a year to date 8.7% increase in prices year to date, although a 12% drop year over year from $328,000 to $287,500 currently. North Kona currently has 224 active listings with 38 under recent contract.
For condos, the list to sales price is 87%, so buyers are definitely negotiating. North Kona’s final list to sale price for single family homes in 2018 is 91.4%, while a year ago it was 89.64%. Overall, the market is not as fast paced as it was last year, but this year, land sales have been cooking, as potential home buyers are considering building their dream home for a similar price to buying an older home.
“Honolulu had a 4% and 5% drop in home and condo prices in November and we are $200,000 cheaper than the Honolulu market AND we have beautiful views AND clean air. We are a bargain and people may start realizing that pretty soon and then we may be bracing for more demand”, Lance Owens, President, West Hawaii Association of Realtors, stated.
“It’s been like watching someone have a heart attack this year, with the statistics going so far up and so far down this year. We are looking forward to much more stable housing market in 2019.” The Fed is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate next Wednesday, December 19th. This would be the fourth rate hike of 2018 and the ninth one since the central bank started working to bring interest rates back from nearly zero three years ago.
LUVA Real Estate can provide more statistics and assistance in what is happening in the neighborhoods you may be considering buying a home in and we can also help you with a no-cost market analysis of your home to be sure you price your home correctly in a more competitive market.