Released: Tuesday, June 2, 2009

HONOLULU - The Honolulu Board of REALTORS® released resale figures today for the month of May. According to the analysis conducted by the Board, using data collected from its computerized Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system, the statistics are:

May 2009 Residential Resales Statistics for Oahu

Single Family Home Resales

Number of
Sales
This Month
Compared To
Median*
Sales Price
This Month
Compared To
May 2009 225 $ 550,000
April 2009 $ 585,000 dn 6.0%
May 2008 252 dn 10.7% $ 649,500 dn 15.3%

Condominium Resales
Number of
Sales
This Month
Compared To
Median*
Sales Price
This Month
Compared To
May 2009 263 $ 305,000
April 2009 $ 310,000 dn 1.6%
May 2008 382 dn 31.2% $ 337,300 dn 9.6%

Click here to view May 2009 Resales Charts.
*Median price means half the prices were above and half below the given price.

During May, sales of 225 single-family homes and 263 condominiums were reported through the Board’s MLS, decreases of 10.7 percent for single-family homes and 31.2 percent for condominiums, compared to the same month last year. This brings total single-family home sales on Oahu to 853 for the first five months of 2009, a decrease of 27.8 percent over the same time period one year ago. Total condominium sales through April were 1,087, a 39.7 percent decrease from last year. The median prices paid for Oahu properties in the first five months of 2009 were $570,000 and $305,000, respectively, decreases of 9.5 percent for single-family homes from the same time period in 2008 and 7.6 percent for condominiums. The year-to-date total dollar sales volume generated in the housing market, through May, was $948.3 million, a decrease of 43.2 percent, or $721.8 million, compared to the $1.670 billion produced one year ago.

“The Oahu residential housing market is still weak but there are indications that we may be near the bottom,” said Sandra “Sam” Bangerter, President of the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “Single-family home sales rebounded a bit in May and the sales speed of 49 days was faster than at the same time last year. While prices were lower for single-family dwellings, the condominium median price has been holding quite steady at just over $300,000. These are just some of the signals that our housing market may be starting to return to normalcy.”

“Mainland cities have experienced significant inventory bloat and, with limited demand, this is the culprit in their falling prices,” added Harvey Shapiro, Research Economist at the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “The fact that Oahu’s inventory of available properties continues to be low is the important factor that is keeping our prices more stable. Prices in some single-family home neighborhoods, like Hawaii Kai and Mililani, are have decreased less than 7 percent, while prices in some condominium neighborhoods, like Kapahulu-Diamond Head, Ala Moana-Kaka’ako and Kailua, actually rose in May. In an otherwise lackluster housing market, these positives may predict a turnaround for real estate, even as the state’s economic conditions continue to deteriorate.”

The public is encouraged to visit the Board’s Internet web site at www.HiCentral.com to see what’s happening in the housing market. The public has the ability to search through Oahu single-family home and condominium listings, available for sale and for rent, and to see a comprehensive guide of homes that will be open to visit this Sunday. All searches can be done by geographic location, price range or both. HiCentral.com provides useful information about buying and selling real estate in Hawaii.

Established in 1922, the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® is one of the largest of 1,600 boards of REALTORS® in the nation and, with over 5,500 members, the largest trade organization on Oahu. Membership is available to licensed real estate brokers, agents, property managers, appraisers, counselors and others engaged in all aspects of the real estate industry pledged to adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. For more information, call (808) 732-3000 or visit www.HiCentral.com.

(This report reflects information about resales of existing properties only and does not include new home sales. All of the MLS information is compiled from sales reported during the cited months; this data is known only after closing of escrow. The time delay between the signing of a sales contract and the closing of escrow is usually between one and three months.)

** THIS DATA PROVIDED BY THE Honolulu Board of REALTORS®

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Honolulu Vehicle Registration

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By admin | Filed in Moving to Honolulu | No comments yet.
O.k., so I’m doing some searching on getting my old 1969 Bronco registered as an antique and I stumbled across this great website offering vehicle registration help. Aloha Vehicle Registration is in Hawaii and helps locals as well as people moving from the mainland obtain their vehicle registration with ease. They are more than experts in obtaining legal registrations and titles for people who don’t know all of the hassles of bringing a car to the islands.

I spoke at length with one of their reps, and he was helpful, curteous and very informative. If you’re moving to Honolulu or Hawaii and are bringing you car. Check out these guys for some awesome help!

Hawaii License Plate

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Humpback Whales

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Maui Humpback Whale Festival

Happy February everyone! O.k., I admit I’m a little partial to this month, since my birthday is the 2nd….  however so much more important than that is February is the time that Humback Whales are celebrated on the island of Maui! This wonderful, amazing and beautiful creatures are so deserving of our respect and love that the celebration takes place the entire month of February.  To learn more and take part in helping protect these unreal animals, please visit Pacific Whale to donate, learn and just admire.

Mahalo! 

humpback_whale11

I heard it snowed

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I heard it snowed in my old town, Wilmington, NC. What a shame, NOT! Let me inform the uninformed reader, the weather in Honolulu is not calling for snow. Some wind, sure…… a little rain, sometimes……… rainbows, daily! However, there is a really cool website in Wilmington about Wilmington NC Real Estate. I love it because of the animal link. Anyone helping animals is a friend in my book.

Mahalo!

Pet Friendly Rentals

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By admin | Filed in Honolulu Pet Lovers | No comments yet.

Whew! It sure can be hard finding a pet friendly rental on Oahu! When going through the process of moving to there, anyone who is attempting to bring their pet must be very prepared.

I found various websites to be very helpful and informative when looking for somewhere to rent that was pet friendly. Of course Craigslist was my first choice (it was my homepage on IE and Firefox forever), and then I subscribed to a pay site called Pets Ok. These guys charged you monthly to view homes for rent, but if you’re like me, your pet is worth any amount of money. They sent at least 1 and usually 2 great emails with properties available.

One thing to be very aware of is the Animal Quarantine Restrictions. bridgette on the beachI, personally, could not allow my pets to go through the Animal Quarantine. My dogs are my children. However, there are options for you dedicated furry friend parents out there.

Hawaii offers a 5 day or less program on the Department of Agriculture Animal Quarantine site. Here you can find the information and forms to hopefully bypass putting your four legged child through the terror of being separated from you. Not that I blame Hawaii for being so strict. Hawaii is a rabies free state, and we all need to work hard to keep it that way.

We have launched our new Honolulu Real Estate Website!!! Please check out the all new format with Honolulu Real Estate search links, Hawaii Moving Tips and much, much more. Please come check it out for our brand new site, with original photography, design and appeal. All comments welcome!

As time goes on, we will continue to add pages about different areas of the gorgeous Island of Oahu to include all of Oahu Real Estate, Waikiki Real Estate, North Shore Real Estate and much, much more. We will keep you updated on the current real estate market, condo prices and sometime in the future will even be providing you with Honolulu Real Estate maps and Hawaii Real Estate maps!

Mahalo!

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