Waikiki is by far the most active condominium market on O`ahu. This neighborhood is defined by the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® in it's routine monthly analyses as Tax Map Key Zone 2, Section 6, and it includes a significant concentration of leasehold apartments. Ownership of these apartments is different than for fee simple, in that a purchaser only buys the unit (lessee) and someone else owns the land (lessor). In addition to other costs, the buyer must pay a lease (ground) rent to the lessor.

This November, there were 63 sales, bringing the total for the first eleven months of this year to 975 units. This compares to 993 sales a year ago at the same time. By tenure, sales this year have been 621 fee simple units and 354 leasehold units.

The median price paid for a Waikiki condo this year is $285,000, while a year ago it was $280,000, a single-digit gain of 1.8%. The highest price paid in 2007 was $2,000,000. By tenure, median prices were $339,000 and $250,000, for fee simple and leasehold tenure, respectively.

The Days on Market (DOM) statistic was 54 days this year, while last year it was running a few days faster, at 51. If we examine DOM by tenure, we find that leasehold units actually sold faster, in 52 days, than fee simple units that sold in 55 days.

The inventory of available listings has been quite stable in Waikiki. In November, there were 730 units being actively marketed for sale with a median asking price of $330,000. A year ago, a buyer could find only 702 listings, 4.0% fewer, with the asking price just $1,000 lower, at $329,000. Splitting the available inventory by land tenure, 484 units were fee simple and 246 were leasehold. Asking prices were $369,000 and $275,000, respectively.

If you'd like specific information on available properties in this, or any, O`ahu neighborhood, feel free to contact a local REALTOR® and they will be happy to help you.