Alicia and Jon Sturnick of 'Ewa Beach dropped the asking price on their Ocean Pointe house by $15,000 and are starting to get the uneasy feeling that they missed the peak of O'ahu's latest housing boom.

"If we had put it on the market earlier, we would have definitely sold it already," Alicia Sturnick said. "I knew the market would slow down but I didn't know it would happen so soon."

Last month, they lowered their asking price from $590,000 to $575,000, which positioned it well below January's median sale price of $615,000 for a single-family home.

If nothing happens at their eighth consecutive open house today, 56 days will have passed since the Sturnicks put their house up for sale. The 3-year-old house has two stories, three bedrooms, a two-car garage, central air conditioning and probably would have had people lined up to buy it just four or five months ago.

But in January, the median number of days that single-family homes on O'ahu stayed on the market was 40, meaning half of the homes were on the market longer and half for fewer days, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors. The last time single-family homes sat on the market so long was back in March 2002, when the days on the market stood at 53.

"When the market was running at 20 and 15 days, people had to get in line to make offers that were at or above the list price," said Harvey Shapiro, research economist for the Honolulu Board of Realtors. "Now people have more time to make a decision."

The Sturnicks, like many others interviewed, have dropped their price and continue to hope for any kind of offer. But in their Ocean Pointe neighborhood, they have found that 52 other homes are also for sale. And while Alicia Sturnick said she has kept their house in immaculate condition, several other single-family homes are brand new and priced in the same range.

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Jon and Alicia Sturnick of 'Ewa Beach are surprised at how fast the housing market has slowed down. They are holding their eighth consecutive open house today on their Ocean Pointe home, listed for $575,000.


DEBORAH BOOKER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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