Which Oahu Neighborhoods Have the Least and Most Turnover?

What do Waimanalo, Waipio Gentry and Manoa have in common? If you guessed home prices, you'd be wrong.

Home values in these three neighborhoods range from an average of $650,000 in Waipio Gentry to an average of more than $1,400,000 in Manoa, with Waimanalo's average about in the middle.

What these neighborhoods do have in common is a lot of long-time residents and very little turnover. In the past year, less than 1 percent of Waimanalo's nearly 2,000 single-family homes changed hands. In Waipio Gentry last year, there were only 19 sales--a little over 1 percent turnover. And in perennially desirable Manoa, there was only a 1.3 percent turn over last year.

While 1 percent turnover is very low, there are actually several Oahu neighborhoods with even less turnover--and a handful of neighborhoods that had no sales at all last year (however, most of these neighborhoods are very small, such as the Waimea neighborhood in Haleiwa, with only 18 homes). The bulk of Oahu's more than 350 neighborhoods saw between 1 - 4 percent turnover among single-family homes.

Top 5 Neighborhoods with the lowest turnover of single-family homes in the past year*:

1. Seaview (Waipahu): 0.3%
2. Waiau (Pearl City): 0.4%
3. Keaahala (Kaneohe) & Royal Summit (Pearl City): 0.5% each
4. Waihee (Kaneohe), Waipahu Estates, Nanakuli, Ualakaa (Metro Oahu) & Salt Lake: 0.6% each
5. Kahala-Puupanini: 0.7%

These low-turnover neighborhoods run the gamut in their location and average home price--what they have in common is that residents love living there and are rarely inclined to move.

*Excludes the neighborhoods with no sales in the past year and neighborhoods that are designated Hawaiian Homestead communities.

Top 5 Neighborhoods with the highest turnover of single-family homes in the past year:

1. Maili Sea-Makalae 1 :39.3%
2. Ewa Gentry, Montecito/Tuscany: 23.4%
3. Ewa Gentry, Cypress Point: 18.5%
4. Makakilo-Wai Kaloi: 16.7%
5. Huelani (Ewa Plain): 15.8%

All five of these neighborhoods are located on Oahu's West side.

What does this mean for home buyers and sellers? If you're looking to buy in a neighborhood with low turnover, like Manoa, be prepared to be patient and pay a premium for this sought-after area. On the other hand, if you're looking to buy and aren't tied to a particular area, you may want to focus your search on high turnover neighborhoods--like those in the Ewa region--where you may be able to score a better deal. Sellers in low-turnover neighborhoods have an advantage, too--particularly if the neighborhood has other desirable attributes, like ocean frontage. Sellers in neighborhoods where there is higher turnover are not necessarily at a disadvantage, however, as overall housing inventory remains very low, as does the median Days on Market. In these higher turnover neighborhoods, sellers should be sure to have their properties ready to show in good condition and priced appropriately. A qualified Realtor can advise sellers on how to show and price homes in competitive areas.

Want to know what the turnover is in your neighborhood? Contact your Locations agent for your custom neighborhood report.