Condos Outpace Single-Family Homes in Sales, New Listings

Closed sales activity for single-family homes lags behind the condo market, with single-family properties marking just a 9.8% increase in sales compared to 47.7% jump for condos in November. The median prices for single-family homes and condos tied the previously set record prices at $1,050,000 and $500,000, respectively.

Though single-family homes continue to move into escrow at a quick pace of 11 days, it’s the condo market that set a new record low median days on the market of only nine days. Buyers scooped up condo properties an entire week faster compared to November 2020’s median of 16 days on the market. Meanwhile, around 61% of single-family home sales and 42% of condos sales closed over the asking price in November.

“It’s evident that O‘ahu buyers are entering the market well-prepared and are wasting no time, working with their REALTORS® to get their offers submitted and accepted as soon as possible,” said Shannon Heaven, president, Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “Additionally, a large portion of sellers are receiving bids above their original list prices, which tells us that we remain in a competitive market despite the expected holiday lull.”
 
Year-over-year new listings for single-family homes dropped 5.5%, with just 358 new properties entering the market in November. On the other hand, sellers added 639 new condo listings, representing a 13.9% uptick compared to this time last year.
 
“Sales in both the single-family home and condo markets appear to have leveled off over the past few months. However, we continue to exceed 2020 sales, which dropped due to the initial waves and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic,” added Heaven.