AGENT MLS HOME FINDER

The Honolulu real estate market does not fit into the same mold as many more conventional cities of comparable size in the continental United States. The status of Honolulu real estate depends heavily on the economies of the countries and states where the patrons of Hawaii’s lucrative tourist industry originate from, leading to a number of additional factors in any attempt to pigeon hole the market.  It seems relatively safe to say that a majority of Honolulu homes are owned or rented by local citizens of the Aloha State, while much of the real estate in popular tourist destinations such as Turtle Bay or Waikiki is owned or rented by citizens of different states or countries. There have been a number of highly publicized failings and successes that underscore the more ethereal real estate statistics regarding the health of Honolulu’s real estate.

For example, the sizeable and locally well known Moana Vista apartment complex  – in some ways a microcosm of similar real estate in Hononlulu – was stopped about forty percent of the way to completion after funds ran out. According to a September 12, 2009 article in the Honolulu Advertiser, “A deal to sell the partially built Moana Vista condominium tower makai of McKinley High School has fallen through, and the property is headed for a foreclosure auction scheduled for September 25. The slated auction is the latest twist for the troubled Kaka’ako project, which has been stalled since financing problems halted construction in November after about 40 percent of the building had been completed.”

The Honolulu Board of Realtors reported some negative news regarding homes for sale in Honolulu, according to a Honolulu Advertiser article published on September 2, 2009. The piece stated that “The median price of homes on Oahu and the volume of sales fell in August compared with the same month a year earlier, according to a report released this morning by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.”According to a September 2, 2009 article in the Pacific Business News, “Median home prices on Oahu fell about 11 percent in August, while the number of sales appeared to flatten out.”