And the winner is...

Did your Oahu neighborhood fare better than your NCAA March Madness pick?

Locations analyzed 16 Oahu market areas to determine the highest-performing neighborhoods from the West and East sides of the island. In our championship match up of West side winner, Leeward, vs. East side winner, Kaneohe, we looked at the percent increase in the percentage of single-family homes sold for above asking price in 2017.

With more than one in three homes sold for above asking price in 2017--an increase of 14 percent over the previous year--Kaneohe knocked out Leeward in our final round. Leeward saw an increase of 11 percent in bid-ups, with more than one in four homes sold for above the asking price. 

Our methodology

We began with Oahu's 16 largest real estate market areas, eight from the West side and eight from the East side. Using our propriety rating system, our Locations Research Analyst assigned a ranking of 1-8 for each side based on several factors, including the number of active listings, Days on Market, number of sales and median prices.

In the first round, our No. 1 market areas from each side faced off against the No. 8 markets, and so forth, with the market that saw the highest percent change in the number of sales in 2017 advancing to the next round.

In round two, we compared the percent change in median prices. On the west side, Ewa, which had a 2017 median price of $659,000--a five percent increase--and Leeward, which had a 2017 median price of $462,000--also a five percent increase--advanced to our Final Four.

On the east side, Kaneohe defeated East Oahu with a whopping seven percent increase in median price to $870,000, and Hawaii Kai dominated Manoa, with an outstanding 11 percent increase in median price to $1,189,44 in 2017.

In the third round, our Final Four match-ups played for biggest percent decrease in Days on Market. With a 17 percent drop in Days on Market in 2017 to just 19 days, Leeward blew away Ewa, which saw Days on Market increase by 14 percent to 16 days.

Over on the east side, Kaneohe continued its hot streak with a jaw-dropping 30 percent decrease in Days on Market to just 14 days, while Days on Market in Hawaii Kai fell by only six percent to 24 days.

In a close match up for the championship of Oahu real estate markets, No. 1 seed Kaneohe eked out a win with a 14 percent increase in bid ups over Leeward.

Congratulations to Kaneohe on a well-deserved victory!