Isle home sales
jump 40.4%

Condo purchases gained
23.5 percent in November

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Home sales on Oahu surged last month, with a 40.4 percent increase in the number of existing single-family homes sold compared with November 1997.

Condominium resales were up 23.5 percent from the year-earlier month, according to the latest report from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

A total of 226 houses and 226 condominium units changed hands last month, compared with 161 single-family homes and 183 condominiums in November 1997.

Prices and interest rates played a part in making November the 17th consecutive month of higher sales than the previous year, said the 3,700-member trade association.

The median price for single-family homes in November was $294,500, up only 1.6 percent from the November 1997 median of $290,000. In condominium resales, last month's median of $140,500 was down 3.1 percent from the $145,000 November 1997 median, the price at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.

The association said the total of houses and apartments sold last month was the highest for any November since 1990. "Not only have we been seeing a healthier market for single-family homes, but the condominium market has been getting stronger this year," said Linda M. Marn, the group's chairwoman.

She said bargain hunters are recognizing values to be found among condominiums, where prices are at their lowest for the 1990s.

Through the first 11 months of this year, 2,226 single-family homes were resold, a 22.5 percent increase over 1,817 in the 11 months of 1997. Condominium sales so far this year totaled 2,371, up 25.8 percent from 1,884 in the 11 months of last year.

The trade group monitors sales of existing properties listed in its computerized Multiple Listing Service and does not report sales of new homes or apartments.