Waikiki Best Buys

The following are true three bedrooms in Waikiki. All are fee simple. The first is listed for $522.900. It is on a high floor at 1717 Ala Wai Blvd. unit 2710. It has 1130 square feet of living space and an open lanai of 100 square feet. There were two units sold in this building in August of 2009, unit 2901, has 1084 square feet of living space and 150 square foot lanai. It was listed at $535,000 and sold at $495,000. Then there was unit 2706. It has 1348 square feet of living space and 147 square foot lanai. It was listed at $548,000 and sold at $505,000.

The next examples of 3 bedrooms comparable with that mentioned at 1717 Ala Wai Blvd. The units are at Big Surf. One is listed at $300,000 on a low floor, unit 301. The square foot living space is 912 and 182 square feet for the lanai. The address of Big Surf is 1690 Ala Moana Blvd. The other unit at Big Surf is unit number 1201. It list at $485,000 and has 912 square feet of living space and 182 square foot lanai. You have to go back as far as November 2007 to find a 3 bedroom that sold at Big Surf. It was listed for $458,000 and sold for $430,000.

Finally there is another 3 bedroom at 320 Ainakea Way, unit 611 with 1165 square feet of living space and 194 square foot lanai. It list at $499.000. It should be noted that there have been no 3 bedrooms sales in this building as far back as January of 2007.

If you would like any further information on any of these units please contact, Abron Toure at the Coldwell Banker Waikiki Office, cell number is 503 475 6872, Mahalo.

What is the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP)?

HARP is part of the program that was developed for homeowners who are not able to take advantage of the lower interest rates because of decreasing home values. This part of the program is for credit worthy individuals that are not behind in their current mortgage payments. HARP has a fixed interest rate over the life of the loan and could be beneficial for homeowners who property values has decreased and/or have adjustable mortgage rate.

Here are some of the qualifications of the HARP Mortgage Refinancing Qualifications:
The current mortgage loan must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac of Fannie Mae
The amount still outstanding on the first mortgage cannot be more than 125% of the current market value
The current mortgage payments must be current and no late payments over 30 days in the last 12 months
The homeowner(s) must be able to make the refinance payments (income to debt)

If you would like to see if you qualify for this please feel free to contact me at 808-561-5943. – Linda Le, Loan Officer, Pacific Access Mortgage

First Time Home Buyers---YOUR CLOCK IS TICKING!!!

You have just a few more days to find that property you want to purchase, in order to qualify for the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit. The property has to be closed by December 1, 2009. Since it takes 30 to 45 days to close on a property, and with Thanksgiving the week before, and a slew of other people trying to close their properties, too, you should be putting in that offer TODAY!!

If you can get an accepted offer by October 20th, and if there aren’t any problems associated with the property (that is, large repairs that need to be made before the closing, etc.), you should be okay….

Good luck!

And even if you aren’t able to get the $8000 tax credit, interest rates are still at all time lows (around 4.5%), so it is a great time to buy that first home.

Call me now to help you buy that first property. You’ll be glad you did.
Tiare Dutcher 808-753-5327.

Sales and Prices Shoot Up in September!

244 single family homes sold in September, up from 215 last year. 345 condos sold, up from 305 last year. This is the first month this year that both single family and condo unit sales both exceeded prior year in the same month!

Sept single family median sales price was $600,000 vs 2008 at $590,000. This represents a $10,000 improvement vs prior year.

Sept condo median sales price of $305,000 was above prior year by $9,000. Last years median price was $296,000.

The question is, Does this represent a trend? Are we on the verge of transitioning from a Stage 4 market to a Stage 1 market?

Will unit sales and prices rebound in the fourth quarter vs prior year, remain level with prior year or exceed prior year?

With the activity generated by the first time home buyer credit and continuing low interest rates, it'll be interesting to see if the median sales price in Oct for single family homes and condos exceeds the median sales price in 2008. If it does, that would be the second consecutive month. Three months in a row would constitute a trend.
I expect it will remain fairly level as long as inventory levels remain below prior year and days on market remain under 60 days and interest rates remain low.

What does this mean to potential Buyers and Sellers?

Contact me, Dwight Ellis at 808 351-1507 or dwighte@cbpacific.com to schedule a private consultation.