Six Areas of O‘ahu Have Lots of Homes for Under $1 Million
In each of those places, prices so far this year are lower than last year.
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Janis
Janis Magin Meierdiercks reports each week on local real estate for Hawaii Business Magazine’s weekly email newsletter, Hawai‘i Real Estate News, and hawaiibusiness.com. Previously, she wrote and edited stories on real estate for 15 years at Pacific Business News.
Email tips or story ideas to her at HawaiiRENews@gmail.com.
In each of those places, prices so far this year are lower than last year.
One Realtor says prices will likely go up fast when interest rates fall, so eager buyers are being encouraged to close on deals now and then try to refinance in a few years at lower rates.
While the number of homes sold in most categories of O‘ahu real estate were flat or down in August, the sales numbers went up for single-family homes priced at $3 million or more and condos starting at $1.5 million.
Oʻahu's percentage drop in refi loans during the second quarter was the second largest in the country, according to a national report.
After the deadly Marco Polo fire of 2017, older Honolulu high rises were required to install sprinkler systems or pass a safety evaluation, but compliance is slow going. Now state legislation asks them to add the costly systems to their reserve studies.
Here are the options for people who can’t live in their homes anymore, but still owe money on the mortgage.
The president-elect of the Realtors Association of Maui estimates about 40 to 50 agents lost their homes and possessions, and one is reported missing.
The development company that used low-income housing tax credits to build the 89-unit apartment building hopes to rebuild.
“Our buyer pool is very low, but when I look at the sales, I’d say more than half are cash,” says the president of the Kauaʻi Board of Realtors.
Hawai‘i Island’s overall median price has been relatively steady this year, but the lowest priced deals – including many inexpensive vacant lots – can often be found in Puna.
That’s based on sales of condos and single-family homes during the first quarter of 2023.
Japanese buyers have been mostly absent from the high-end market since the pandemic started, but many mainlanders, and some locals, are showing interest.
The average rent for a studio apartment on O‘ahu last year was up 25% from 2017 and larger rentals were up, too, by at least 17%.
Homeowners are guaranteed a tax break on capital gains up to a fixed amount, while owners of investment properties can defer those gains using a 1031 exchange. But “timing is important” for the strategy to work, says Julie Bratton of Old Republic Exchange Co.
O‘ahu home sales were down in May compared with a year ago, but some areas, like Hawai‘i Kai and Kailua, are starting to see an increase in prices.
Nationwide, homeowners lost equity on average during the first quarter of this year. But in the Islands, homeowners with mortgages gained on average $24,900 in the value of their homes.
Both O‘ahu and national numbers show 56% declines in new residential home mortgages during the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year.
The transformation of the Davies Pacific Center will create mostly one-bed apartments, while leaving a few floors of offices.
The number of homes for-sale-by-owner was up nationwide in 2022. Several local companies offer to list the homes on MLS and handle the closing for a flat fee, but you do most everything else.
But a local expert expects Japanese investors – and tourists – will eventually return because their passion for the Islands remains strong.
The actions test the assumption that sellers must pay the commission for a buyer’s agent.
The reasons are numerous, including rising construction costs, leaking pipes and Florida’s Hurricane Ian. But there are ways to reduce your premiums.
But just about everywhere on the island, fewer condos were sold in the first quarter of this year compared to last year – much fewer.
But it’s already hard to recruit people to the boards, says one critic, and such a requirement would make it even harder.
Bills about converting cesspools and reclassifying agricultural land have been sidelined, but other real estate legislation is either still alive or has been sent to the governor.
A national report and a local index show that affordability has gotten much worse in the past two years.
Condo sales are way down in North Kona and South Kohala, but a lot has changed since the 2009 downturn.
That's according to a report from real estate company Redfin, which includes both single-family houses and condos in the assessment.
Last month, single family homes typically took 47 days to sell. In February 2022, it was 13 days, and two years ago it was just nine.
Kailua-Waimānalo’s median price fell only 3% in January, but Pearl City-ʻAiea’s was down 24%.
It appears counterintuitive, but the number of people in each category has grown, according to a new report.
Report from Hawaiʻi Life details the 2022 market for luxury real estate in the Islands and anticipates strong demand for $3 million-plus homes in 2023.
The statewide association supports a bill that would allow the counties to reclassify up to 100 acres of nonessential agricultural land if at least half of it is for affordable housing.
The biggest median price gain in 2022 was on the North Shore; most sales were on the ʻEwa Plain.
Start planning early, because once a divorce decree is issued, it can be too late to arrange necessary financing on the house or save both spouses’ credit scores.
Fran Villarmia-Kahawai, 2023 president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, outlines her three priorities for the year.
After two years of rapid growth, Hawai‘i can expect to see a gradual reduction in interest rates, a slowdown in dropping sales, and a leveling off — or maybe even a decline — in prices.
From a first-quarter high of $139,000, equity gains fell to $61,500 in the third quarter, which is still better than every other state except Florida.
A federal agency raises the limit on conforming mortgages in Hawai‘i and other high-cost markets.
More than 50 units in one Kaka‘ako tower are up for sale, just weeks after the owners got possession of units in the newly completed high-rise.
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