As he does each month, Lead Research Analyst John Jacobson recently presented a detailed market update exclusively for Locations agents. In his latest presentation, he provided agents with a comprehensive, detailed look at the Waikiki condo market, including a breakdown of available inventory by price band, bedroom type, rental type and more.
Below are five key takeaways from John’s Waikiki update—in handy chart form!
1. Thirty percent of Waikiki condo listings are priced at entry level. The share of entry-level (defined as less than $400,000) condos for sale in Waikiki is falling as mid-market ($401,000-$999,999) condos comprise a bigger slice of the market. The number of mid-market listings has been increasing since 2021, as the median price has increased by 25 percent. There are currently 20 percent fewer active listings in Waikiki than there were before the pandemic.
2. Three-bedroom Waikiki condos have appreciated the most, on an average annual basis. The scarcest bedroom size in the Waikiki market, three-bedroom units have an average annual appreciation of 8.9 percent; that’s about 3.5 percent more a year than Waikiki studios and almost 4 percent more per year than the overall rate of annual appreciation on Oahu. There is almost no difference in the percentage of appreciation for two- and three-bedroom units.
3. More than half of Waikiki condo buyers in 2022 were local. While local owners are still the majority in Waikiki, their share has dropped from 66 percent in 2019 to 57 percent in 2022 (the last year of available data). The share of buyers from the western part of the U.S. continent nearly doubled from 2019 to 2022, as the percentage of Japanese buyers in Waikiki shrank by five percent.
4. Demand for short-term rentals has increased. Condos permitted for short-term rental (STRs) comprised 30 percent of Waikiki sales in 2020, compared to nearly 50 percent of sales in 2023. Buyer competition for STRs increased in 2022 and 2023 as other segments of the Waikiki market softened. Studios are the most sought-after STR bedroom type, followed by one-bedroom units.
5. The average monthly rent in Waikiki climbed nine percent from 2015 to 2023. After dipping slightly in 2020, long-term rent prices have been trending up since 2021. Rental rates typically follow the direction of condo prices, lagging by one to two years.
The above charts are just a fraction of what our Research Department shares with Locations agents each month. Decades ago, we made the bold decision to invest in building our own in-house research team because we understood the power of arming our agents with local-market data that enables their clients to make the most informed choices. See for yourself how our unparalleled research capabilities could boost your real estate career. Get in touch today!
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