Oahu Real Estate Market Closes 2020 with Rising Prices, Low Inventory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:

Anne Cicero

Locations

anne.cicero@locationshawaii.com

808-738-2041

Oahu Real Estate Market Closes 2020 with Rising Prices, Low Inventory

Strong demand for single-family homes fuels competition

HONOLULU – (Jan. 5, 2021) – Locations—Hawaii’s leading real estate firm— published its Oahu Residential Real Estate Report for 2020. This is a comparison to the previous year of 2019.

• In December, the median single-family home price rose six percent over the previous December to $872,500. The median condo median price dipped by one percent in December to $425,000. For the past year, the median single-family home price was $830,000, a five percent increase over the previous year, and $435,000 for condos, a two percent increase over the same time period. 
• Single-family home and condo sales have risen above previous years’ levels after dipping from the initial impact of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. Single-family home sales ended the year three percent above 2019, while condo sales ended the year down by 13 percent from 2019. 
• Days on Market for single-family homes remained near record lows at just 12 days in December. Condo Days on Market, which has been falling since July, was 18 days in the month of December, a 44-percent decrease over December 2019. 
• Bid-ups for single-family homes remained near all-time highs in December, with 45.7 percent of homes sold above asking. Condo bid-ups reached 22.5 percent in December, an increase of 126 percent. Strong bid-ups are placing continued upward pressure on home prices.

“Unlike other segments of our local economy, the Oahu real estate market was mostly unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said President and CEO of Locations Jason Lazzerini. “Home sales and prices continued to trend up in 2020, as extremely competitive market conditions persisted,” he added.

“Our homes took on a new importance in 2020. With more people working from home this year, buyers reassessed their housing needs—with many opting for larger homes with more yard space outside of the urban core,” Lazzerini added. “With mortgage rates below three percent, homebuyers should be prepared to move swiftly this year, as Locations anticipates competitive conditions will continue in 2021.”

At the local market level, Ewa was the top-performing single-family home market as well as the top-performing condo market in 2020. Single-family home sales in Ewa climbed eight percent last year, while median home prices rose four percent to $713,500. Days on Market fell by 55 percent last year to a median of just 10 days, while bid-ups increased by 120 percent to 39.5 percent. Currently, there are only 15 single-family homes for sale in Ewa, an 81-percent decrease.

Sales of Ewa condos rose five percent in 2020, while median prices increased by four percent to $530,000. Almost thirty percent of Ewa condos were bid up over the asking price in 2020—the highest bid-up rate of all Oahu condo markets. Ewa condos sold in a median of just 13 days, a decrease of 35 percent over last year. With just 26 condos for sale in Ewa in December, available resale inventory would fall to zero in less than one month if no new listings were to come online.

Locations recommends that homebuyers and sellers partner with an experienced Realtor®, as local markets perform differently. Locations agents are able to serve their clients safely while complying with the State of Hawaii’s health and safety guidelines. Virtual meetings, home tours and open houses are also available.

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About Locations As the state’s oldest and leading independent real estate firm, our trusted Neighborhood Experts have served Hawaii’s families since 1969. For more than 50 years, Locations has helped more people buy or sell their homes than any other real estate firm in the state. With our rich kama’aina roots, innovative technology and dedicated market-research department, Locations continues to be at the forefront of this ever-changing industry. Today, Locations has 300 agents in five offices across Oahu. Through our non-profit, the Locations Foundation, our agents and staff support more than 100 Hawaii non-profit organizations both through monetary donations and volunteer hours. Visit LocationsHawaii.com/about-us today to learn more. For up-to-date Hawaii real estate updates, follow Locations on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/LocationsHawaii, Twitter at @LocationsHI, Instagram at @LocationsHawaii, and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/locations-hawaii. Read the Locations blog at: www.LocationsHawaii.com/news.