The O‘ahu housing market ended 2021 with a slight decline of 10.0% in single-family home sales and a healthy 15.4% increase in condo sales year-over-year. The median sales price for single-family homes tied the previously set record in August 2021 at $1,050,000, while condos saw a median sales price of $485,000, slightly up from December 2020.
While O‘ahu’s single-family home market saw new listings, pending sales, and total inventory in escrow all drop year-over-year, the condominium market remained strong, with new listings up 13.1%, pending sales jumped 16.7% and total inventory in escrow rose 11.5%.
“It was clearly a seller’s market in 2021,” said Chad Takesue, president of the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® in 2022. “Not only did properties enter escrow at a record pace, but they often marked multiple offers and sold for a premium.”
Single-family homes were in high demand throughout 2021, but sales leveled off in the last quarter of the year as buyers faced low inventory and a slight rise in average mortgage rates since the summer and early fall.
“With high demand and dismal inventory of single-family homes, buyers turned their sights to condos, driving competitive activity in some areas and leading to low supply in this market as well. As a result, every price point in the condo market saw more sales in 2021 and every region across Oʻahu marked more sales,” added Takesue.
