Real estate sales volume was up 51% to $187.8 million in the first quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, and up by 1.5% to $163.3 million in the second quarter, from April to June, according to Siska Hutapea, president of Cornerstone Valuation Guam, Inc.
This includes sales of single-family houses, condominiums and land.
The first half of 2022 already saw $351.1 million in total sales volume for Guam, compared with $285.4 million in the first half of 2021.
Hutapea said the real estate industry was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, but the lifting of most restrictions this year and the pent-up demand for housing resulted in growth in sales for the first half of 2022.
Overall outlook for calendar year 2022 still depends on the effects of increased interest rates by the third quarter, Hutapea said.
In 10 years, total real estate transactions on Guam reached $4.4 billion, according to a Cornerstone Valuation report.
$5.1M sales
Condominium sales soared by nearly 57% to $40.3 million in the second quarter of 2022 versus a year ago and Cornerstone Valuation said this was because of Ladera Tower unit sales.
But the volume of sales for single-family dwellings went down by nearly 14% and the number of transactions also dropped by 22% in the second quarter.
Cornerstone Valuation listed two notable real estate sales of $5.1 million each in the April to June period.
The first one involves an entity related to the Tale Verde Estates townhouse developer, proposed for the development of high-end, single-family dwellings and townhouses.
The second notable sale for the quarter is Manhattan Plaza in Harmon, where Ben N’ Yan’s restaurant and Pinoy Express are located.
“The buyer was planning to develop its owner-occupant food and beverage facility, but the skyrocketing construction cost deterred the plan and the buyer acquired this property instead,” the Cornerstone Valuation report said.
Beyond reach
Meanwhile, owning a house has become more out of reach for many on Guam.
The new median price for a single-family dwelling has gone up to $426,000, compared with $380,000 in 2021 and $299,000 in pre-pandemic 2019.
Even a condominium unit, now with a median price of $318,580, is becoming beyond reach for families.
Increased costs of construction materials and shipping, coupled with a limited number of construction workers for off-base housing have contributed to the high costs of buying or building a house.
The limited homes for sale have also been resulting in multiple offers, driving the prices higher.
Liz Duenas, RE/MAX Diamond Realty associate broker and current president of the Guam Association of Realtors, said the association has been working with the government of Guam in addressing housing affordability and availability problems.
Joint Region Marianas has also been trying to address the housing shortage, especially with the increased size of the military and other personnel needed for the Marines’ relocation.
Del. Michael San Nicolas, for his part, said Guam must incentivize homes coming onto the market at lower prices.
“This can be done by waiving the business privilege tax on building materials and contractor costs for housing below a certain price, providing an incentive for contractors to recruit labor to build housing below a certain price, and refocus government incentives on housing below a certain price,” he said.
Duenas said amid all these concerns, Guam’s real estate market in general remains healthy and is being kept afloat by the military buildup.
“The buildup is here. We’ve got contractors coming who need housing. We’ve got investors from Korea coming in that are buying property. We’ve got military personnel that have their budget. We’ve got Section 8 that has their budget,” Duenas said. “So Guam would still be in a good position.”
And if anything, the real estate market is cyclic.
“It goes up, it goes down,” she added.
Haidee Eugenio Gilbert can be reached at
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