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Honolulu, HI Real Estate News

By Barbara Abe
(East Oahu Realty)
The 2008 12th Annual "Festival of Lights" Boat Parade, hosted by the Hawaii Kai Marina Community Association, was again a huge success. People from all parts the island, including tourists, gathered to the three major Hawaii Kai shopping centers to watch 33 decorated boats troll around the marina waterways. Winner of the "Best Overall Boat" went to Tom Hintnaus and his crew. Tom transformed his 24' outboard to a winning "Mark Twain" theme. His creative abilities have won him several grand prizes in past boat parades. Other winners included Bob Raben for "Best Electric Boat," John Gravener for "Peanuts Charlie Brown," Eddie Fraser for "Santa," and Bob Hampton for "Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." There were also winners for second and third place in several boat categories The parade was held...
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We've all made our New Year's Resolution List and it's history by now.  But when I read an article by a realtor in another state, I thought how resolutions for your community are especially important now, as we all work together to strengthen the economy and move toward a greener future.  Hawaii Kai is a beautiful home, and we can keep it that way by making a commitment to care about the community. Here are his resolutions: 1.  Love your neighbor as yourself2.  Respect the rights of others3.  Try to understand the spirit of the law4.  Obey the letter of the law5.  Drive within the speed limit6.  Attend and participate in public hearings and community boards7.  Volunteer for a community project8.  Promote worthwhile service and charitable organizations9.  Go Green and try to implement en...
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By Robin McCann
(Robin McCann Realty)
We've all heard the saying "take a a walk on the wild side". I would like to suggest a bus tour of Oahu 's trashy side of life. The second is more fun, much more interesting and very educational. You can view the trashy side of Oahu by taking a Tour de Trash. Tour de Trash is an award-winning free educational program offered by the City of Honolulu . 2009 makes the eleventh consecutive year that the tour is being offered to the public. There are are a total of six unique bus tours thoughout the year.  The first Tour de Trash for 2009 will be held on January 15. Tour de Trash (#1) will feature a visit to the Sheraton Waikiki (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) demonstrating Work Place Recycling. The tours allow participants to see and learn about opala (waste/trash) processing and successful recycli...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
December 30th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs There is an old saying; “It is darkest before the dawn.”  Over the last year, our economy as experienced many pieces of bad news.  Call me a contrarian, I think this creates opportunities for buyers of Honolulu homes. The latest bit of news comes from the Wall Street Journal. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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December 29th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs Over my lifetime, the Honolulu real estate market has been susceptible to inflation.  Last week’s article in Forbes may foretell a good reason to buy a home or condo in Honolulu sooner rather than later. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman, (RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE
(Liberty Homes)
Yesterday we decided to head over to Ala Moana Shopping Center and eat lunch at Tanaka of Tokyo -Japanese Steak & Seafood House. With a wide variety of steak and seafood dishes on the menu to choose from each dish is prepared by a skilled Master Teppan-Yaki (teppan meaning iron griddle and yaki meaning fried or broiled) chef. The seating is situated around the iron griddle with the chef in the middle preparing the food with an entertaining show of flying spatulas and knives. With the chef cracking us up with jokes and flinging shrimp tails into his hat and pocket it was a very pleasurable meal. The chef first started off with a shrimp appetizer and then afterwards flavored grilled beansprouts while the waitress brought us miso soup and pickled vegetables. Then he made our calamari stea...
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December 23rd, 2008 categories: Rants & Riffs I have been hearing of refinance mortgage loan rates in the 4.0 to 4.375% range! This is insanely low and now is a great time to consider getting a new loan.  Here is a step by step plan to take advantage of these great loans. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
December 22nd, 2008 categories: Rants & Riffs Today’s Honolulu Advertiser is reporting information about properties which will need to be acquired to make way for the proposed rapid transit rail project.  Theoretically, the City will “negotiate” with the landowners, but if I had to bet…the owners will not do well against an entity that can use eminent domain rules to take a property. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Hawaii homes
(Century 21 iProperties Hawaii)
In the last five years or so, Honolulu saw another round of high rise construction.  New choices for condo living in town have emerged.  The cycle appears to be reaching its end with a few more properties approaching completion.  One of the properties is Moana Vista, located on Kapiolani Boulevard in Kakaako.    This is a great location for city dwellers.  Moana Vista is near the downtown financial district, Ala Moana Shopping Center and the Ward Centers.  Now the developer is facing the challenge of selling its condos in a slowing market. KC Development is constructing the 46-story Moana Vista.  It's just down the street from 909 Kapiolani and across from the Blaisdell Center.  Last week, prices were reduced by 16-25% on 60 units in the 492 unit development. A mountain view unit on the...
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December 19th, 2008 categories: Distressed Properties In general, core Honolulu is not experiencing significant rates of foreclosure.  The City and County of Honolulu encompasses the entire island of Oahu and there is an area where foreclosures can be found.  According to Pacific Business News, Ewa Beach is the place. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Barbara Abe
(East Oahu Realty)
Oahu has had heavy rainstorms the last few weeks, but we had cloudy warm weather for the annual Hawaii Kai Christmas "parade" - actually a dog and people walk.  Here are some photos: If you'd like more information on our great Hawaii Kai lifestyle, I've lived and worked here for more than 20 years.  Just email or call. Barbara Abe, REALTORbarbara@barbarashawaii.com808-226-2537www.movetohawaii.comwww.barbarashawaii.com
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
December 18th, 2008 categories: Rants & Riffs Pacific Business News is reporting that Honolulu is in esteemed company.  We are the third most expensive city in the U.S. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Elle Zhang, Hawaii Realtor, (808)282-8683, Hawaii Real Estate. Sell Your Home in 72 hours!
(eXp Realty)
www.HawaiiElle.com  What a great place we live in--Hawaii! With Christmas just around the corner. What will you give to your loved ones this year? I have launched a Client's Appreciation program recently. If you give me a referral, you will receive a nice surprise gift from me. Sound good? in line with the Holiday spirit, I would like to make this month's newsletter more easygoing and fun. Santa has given us an early present this month. Can you believe the interest rate of 30-year fixed loan has gone down to 4.5% a decrease of 2 percentage points today!? What does that mean to you? When you buy a house worth $600,000 which is the average price of a single family home on Oahu, you put up 20% as a down payment. How much do you need to pay every month? If the interest rate is 6.25%, you ha...
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By Robin McCann
(Robin McCann Realty)
I am taking a break from the Christmas holiday news to provide valuable information to victims of our recent floods here on the Island of Oahu .  We experienced storms last Thursday and Saturday which brought heavy rains (four inches of rain per hour) along with high winds. The rains produced flooding in several areas on the island. The State of Hawaii, along with city agencies and emergency organizations, have set up information centers providing services and assistance for flood and wind damaged victims. The centers will be open from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, tomorrow and Friday. On Saturday, the information centers will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Governor Linda Lingle has declared a state disaster emergency, enabling the National Guard to join with the City of Honolulu 's crews for...
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By Deborah Tulipani
(Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties)
I started writing this to talk about what I think is one of the best deal in Honolulu, but ended up with this thought because of a property I saw that would be ideal to buy if I were parent with a kid in college. If I were a student, I would have just died to have a place like this. If I were a parent, buying is the only think that would make economic sense to me. In fact, there is no good reason I can think of not to buy. If someone can tell me otherwise, I would be interested. Let me tell you about this property. First, it is not listed with me or my company. I wanted to share it because it just so happens to be in my favorite neighborhood to invest, Punahou. It's an upgraded 1/1/1 on the second floor of a quaint 1950's building. The building surrounds the pool like a courtyard amongs...
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December 17th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 No one should be shocked but the Honolulu new real property tax assessments are out and they are down.  Great news is with them being down, theoretically, we will pay less in taxes. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Barbara Abe
(East Oahu Realty)
Since it's almost the end of the year, I was curious how the 4th quarter would compare with last year.  Hawaii Kai hasn't been hit by the foreclosure or short sale problems of other parts of the island, and prices seem to have been holding although demand is down. Hawaii Kai Condos For the 4th quarter to date, 50 sales have closed compared to 62 last year.  High price was $860,000 for a 3 bedroom/3 bath in Peninsula of Hawaii Kai in 2008, vs $1,400,000 for a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath in Kalele Kai in 2007. Peninsula of Hawaii Kai              Kalele Kai Low price was $365,000 for a 1 bedroom/1 bath in the Mauna Luan, vs. $320,000 for a 1 bedroom/2 bath home in the Commodore. Hawaii Kai Single Family Homes For the 4th quarter of 2008, 42 homes closed compared to 60 last year.  The high price wa...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
December 15th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs During slower real estate markets I see all sorts of creative incentives to help bring buyers to the table.  A seller on Oahu recently made the news because they are offering a “bounty” to “anyone who can locate a buyer”. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Barbara Abe
(East Oahu Realty)
We may not have snow in the Islands, but we celebrate the December Holidays in style. Here are some of the events planned or held in Hawaii Kai: Dec. 20 - 12th Annual Festival of Lights Boat Parade in Hawaii Kai Marina, 4:30-8:30 PM - over 30 decorated boats will troll around the marina to hula by Ka Hale I o Kahala Halau Hula and a free concert by famous Hawaiian artist, Amy Hanaiali'i. Dec. 15 - Holy Trinity Christmas Program, 7 PM, Holy Trinity School Dec. 6 - Kaiser High Annual Christmas Tree Fundraiser Nov. 30 - Koko Marina Christmas Carnival Nov. 29 - Keiki Kalikimaka Parade supported by Koko Marina Center & Hawaii Kai Lions Club for Toys for Tots Nov. 28 - Annual Tree Lighting Celebration at Hawaii Kai Towne Center Contact me for details on our Holiday Events and enjoying the Haw...
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December 11th, 2008 categories: Distressed Properties RealtyTrac just released the Hawaii foreclosure number for November.  I found the headlines in our local newspapers at odds with each other.  Even though the stories were based on the same information, each headline made me feel differently about the condition of the Honolulu real estate market. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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