2010 January | Honolulu Real Estate Views

Archive for January, 2010

One Honolulu House For Sale

January 14th, 2010 categories: For Buyers, Homes For Sale

Just one house came up overnight that looked like it was a good value in a good location. Feel free to call me at 808-398-3220 to discuss any of them, I can represent you as they are listed with other real estate firms.

Manoa is one of Honolulu’s most desirable neighborhoods and this 3 bedroom 2-bathroom home is perfect for the buyer trying to break into this community. Built in1947 and sitting on 7,500 square feet of land, this home is walking distance from Manoa Elementary and park. At $889,800 this one will sell fast. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

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Proposed Tax Increase To Hit Many Honolulu Home Sellers!

January 14th, 2010 categories: For Sellers, Rants & Riffs, The Market

Today’s Honolulu Star Bulletin is reporting that one of our State Legislators is proposing a tax increase on “high-priced homes”.

“Rep. Rida Cabanilla, the House housing chairwoman, said she would propose a hike in the conveyance tax on homes priced more than $600,000, as one of the options for addressing homelessness.”CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN ARTICLE.

Given that the median price of a house on Oahu has been bouncing between $550,000 and $600,000 for the last 6 months, I don’t understand why Ms. Cabanilla would want to expose the vast majority of home sellers to her knew tax. Clearly, Honolulu homes in the market segment that she is targeting are not luxurious by any means. Since her proposed tax would be assessed at the sale of a property, this penalizes sellers that should not necessarily be viewed as being the wealthy (not that I think it is right to tax the wealthy). In fact, if a person purchased their home 20 or more years ago, it could easily be worth more than $600,000. During these slow economic times, we don’t need to place any further tax burden on the Hawaii real estate market. If you would like to let the Representative know your thoughts, feel free to contact her using the information below.

Representative Rida Cabanilla

42nd Representative District
Hawaii State Capitol, Room 442
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
phone 808-586-6080; fax 808-586-6081
E-mail repcabanilla@Capitol.hawaii.gov

SEARCH FOR YOUR HONOLULU HOME

If you would like to discuss your real estate needs, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or toll free at 877-737-2093. You can email me at keahi@lava.net.

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Four Honolulu Condos For Sale

January 13th, 2010 categories: Condos For Sale, For Buyers, Military

Here are four condo listings that came on the market over night. Feel free to call me at 808-398-3220 to discuss any of them, I can represent you as they are listed with other real estate firms.

Honolulu Condos

Kamehameha Towers 2 bedroom 1-bathroom in unusual residential location. Very close to Kamehameha School, downtown and much more. $265,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Sakura 1 bedroom 1-bathroom with 590 interior square feet and 1 parking stall. Located in Nuuanu this is a terrific location. $305,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Waikiki Canal House 1 bedroom 1-bathroom with excellent mountain and city views. $339,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Greenwood 2 bedroom 1.5-bathroom view apartment, very close to Hickam Airforce Base and Fort Shafter. The may be perfect for those of you with a off base house allowance (BAQ). $369,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

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Three Honolulu Houses For Sale

January 13th, 2010 categories: For Buyers, Homes For Sale

Here are three Honolulu house listings that came on the market over night. Feel free to call me at 808-398-3220 to discuss any of them, I can represent you as they are listed with other real estate firms.

Honolulu Homes

Kaimuki 4 bedroom 2-bathroom home that can be used as two separate 2 bedroom 1-bath units. Central location. $725,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Kahala Avenue 4 bedroom 4.5-bathroom house with 4,280 square feet of interior area. 13,500 square feet of land. Lap pool and much more. $2,800,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

4 year new home in the center of Kahala! 6 bedrooms 6.5-bathrooms all in 5,505 square feet under roof. See it and you will love it. $3,199,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

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5% Down Conventional Loans Coming Back To Honolulu?

January 13th, 2010 categories: For Buyers, Mortgages & Financing

Yesterday, an anonymous source at one of the Hawaii’s major lenders told me that within the next few weeks they would have conventional financing with a minimum down payment requirement of 5% of the purchase price. Since the mortgage market melt down the minimum conventional loan down payment was extended from zero (this was crazy) to 10% down. An even bigger issue has been the tightening of lending guidelines. I will be the first to say that the guidelines needed to be more stringent, however, it is my opinion that the lending community overreacted and made it much too difficult to get a mortgage. So why am I “crowing” about the decrease in required down payments?

In order for the Honolulu real estate market to “turn”, lenders will need to be willing to loosen their lending rules and provide financing for buyers that cannot currently qualify for a loan. This reduction in down payment may signal a shift in the lending communities mass psyche and could portend more available financing in the near future. As more money is available for loans, you will see values start to move in a positive direction. This change will be good for home and condo sales as well as Hawaii’s overall economy.

SEARCH FOR YOUR HONOLULU HOME

If you would like to discuss your real estate needs, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or toll free at 877-737-2093. You can email me at keahi@lava.net.

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Three Honolulu Condos For Sale

January 12th, 2010 categories: Condos For Sale, For Buyers

Here are three condo listings that came on the market over night. Feel free to call me at 808-398-3220 to discuss any of them, I can represent you as they are listed with other real estate firms.

Honolulu Condos

Kahala Towers view 2 bedroom 2-bathroom condo. 985 square feet of interior area. Walk across the street to Kahala Mall, movies, Whole Foods and more. $448,888. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Remodeled 1,348 square foot 3 bedroom 2-bathroom unit across the Ala Wai Canal from the Convention Center. It comes with parking, but it is so close to everything that you could live without a car. $560,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Rarely available “Gold Coast” fee simple 3 bedroom 2-bathroom 1,984 square foot apartment. Two units per floor. Very private and very preferred. $3,200,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

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Three Honolulu Houses For Sale

January 12th, 2010 categories: For Buyers, Homes For Sale

Here are three house listings that came on the market over night. Feel free to call me at 808-398-3220 to discuss any of them, I can represent you as they are listed with other real estate firms.

Honolulu Homes

Aiea Heights 3 bedroom 2-bathroom on a 10,000 square foot lot. $675,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Koko Head Terrace 4 bedrooms with 2-bathroom with 2,132 square feet of interior space and a 12,881 square foot lot. Very nice. $868,880. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

Round Top Drive home with fabulous city and ocean views. New kitchen and bathrooms. 6,724 square feet of land. $950,000. CLICK HERE FOR FACT SHEET.

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Bank High Ranking Good & Bad For Honolulu Real Estate

January 12th, 2010 categories: Mortgages & Financing, The Market

According to an article in the Honolulu Advertiser, Forbes Magazine recently ranked Bank of Hawaii as “the nations top performing bank”.

“The Forbes ranking is based on eight financial performance measures, which include: return on average equity, net interest margin, nonperforming loans as a percentage of loans, non-performing assets as a percentage of assets, reserves as a percentage of nonperforming loans, two capital ratios and leverage ratio.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE

This is a blessing and a curse for the Honolulu real estate market. It is a blessing because a weak Bank of Hawaii would not be good for our economy of the mental psyche of our community. It is a curse because as the article states, “Bank of Hawaii earned the honor by sticking to a conservative policy on loans…” which means that it may be difficult to get a loan at one of Hawaii’s biggest lenders. Evidence that financing is key to selling a property can be found in the vacant land market. There are very few lenders if any that will make loans on vacant land and, thus, our vacant land market is slow. Portions of our market that are moving have readily available financing.

If I were running the Bank of Hawaii I would consider loosening lending guidelines to gain market share and good will. So those of you with Mr. Landon’s ear (Bankoh’s main man)…pass on my message.

SEARCH FOR YOUR HONOLULU HOME

If you would like to discuss your real estate needs, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or toll free at 877-737-2093. You can email me at keahi@lava.net.

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Don’t Want Solar In Your New Home? Get An Exemption!

January 12th, 2010 categories: Rants & Riffs

Hawaii’s legislature passed a law in its last session that requires that new homes be built with solar hot water heating equipment. Whether or not you support the use of solar hot water, as compared to gas and electric hot water heaters, a solar solution can cost significantly more than a traditional hot water heating system. If you would rather not pay the additional money, the Honolulu Advertiser is reporting the following.

“The state is accepting applications for variances from homeowners wishing to be exempt from a new law requiring that building permits only be issued for single-family structures using solar water heaters.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE STATE EXEMPTION WEBSITE

If you would like to discuss your real estate needs, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or toll free at 877-737-2093. You can email me at keahi@lava.net.

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Unusual Honolulu Condo For Sale

January 11th, 2010 categories: Condos For Sale, For Buyers

This Loft at Waikiki condominium was put on the market a few hours ago. It is a beautifully appointed 2 bedroom 2-bathroom apartment with 1,049 square feet of living area and 2 parking stalls to boot. Enjoy the lanai and being central to Waikiki Beach, Kapiolani Park, The Waikiki Shell and most anything you want. Call me at 808-398-3220 to discuss my helping you buy it. There will be no dual agency as it is listed for sale by another company. CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE MLS SHEET.