The state’s seasonably adjusted unemploymentrate in June is at 3.8% more than 1.5% below the national average.  Did you know, during the great depression, unemployment was at 25%? (Additional Article)

Hawai’i is tied with two other states for the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the country, with South Dakota leading the nation at 2.8 percent.

In keeping with the good news, Honolulu has been named the second healthiest city to live and retire in the U.S.  (Additional Article for reinforcement)

Honolulu was ranked No. 2 because 95 percent of its residents are covered by health insurance. Residents here also spend more time exercising than almost any other city surveyed and locals have one of the highest rates of life expectancy among the other cities surveyed.

I came across this article titled, “Hawaii Looking To Tap Into China’s Monster Market” that really shows the massive potential from the Asian market that many economist here feel will be the next boom in our economy and more specifically our real estate market. This is not just a boom from Chinese but from Koreans as well.

The recently signed memorandum of understanding between the United States and China allows more leisure travel groups to come to the United States, which officials predict will result in a doubling of visitors from China, to more than 100,000 a year. Those numbers have climbed each year, from 25,443 in 2003 to 55,910 last year.  Last month, the first tour groups from China came to the Islands.  The Chinese visitors, although numbering only in the hundreds, grabbed the spotlight ….Officials also predict an upswing in Korean travelers next year when South Korea is expected to be admitted to the U.S. State Department’s visa waiver program.

I found this pretty cool to check out.  If you have ever hiked to the top of Diamond Head Crater,  you know this is one of the best views around. 

Coming off of my trip from San Diego, I stumbled across this article  that I thought was a practical joke, or an article out of the National Enquirer.  Once I realized it wasn’t a joke I was shocked and overcome with laughter.

San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre said on Wednesday he filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp and its Countrywide unit to prevent the mortgage lenders from foreclosing on homes in his city, which he aims to make a “foreclosure sanctuary.”

Ok.  I am all for supporting the goal of helping homeowners keep their homes and decreasing unoccupied, bankowned properties but frankly, his approach is preposterous. When someone doesn’t pay their mortgage, the lender’s recourse is to foreclose. Take that away and NO lender will ever make a home loan.  What other option will they have to re-cooperate their losses?  What incentive would homeowners have to pay their loan down?

June’s market stats for Oahu are out.  So what is going on in the market?

Well if you read the Honolulu Advertiser then, June Oahu Median Home Price falls 8.8% to $625,000.  (When did the Honolulu Advertiser report the news like Fox News?)  Harvey Shapiro says, Housing Prices Hold in June.  The Pacific Business News writes, Oahu Home Sales, Prices Fell In June.

So what is the story?

For the entire first half of this year, the median prices have been $629,000 and $330,000, respectively. The median price of a single-family home has decreased by 2.5%, but the condominium price has increased since the same time period a year ago by 1.5%.

You can view the entire June Market Stats here.  To view all past monthly and quarterly market stats go to the Resource Center.

On page 3 of 20 are the Year-To-Date figures.  These figures are much more accurate then comparing a single month this year to the same single month last year. The number of sales for SFH’s is down 25.7% Y-T-D and for condos is down 27.5% Y-T-D.  The median sales price for a SFH is down 2.9% to $629,000 and for condos is up 1.5% to $330,000.

*Several economist predicted our market will balance out and stay steady at 8,000 units sold.  That is the number we are anticipated to hit this year for total number of sales down from our peak of 13,000 units.

on page 18 of 20 we see the Months of Inventory Remaining.  This gives us an indication of the strength or weakness of a market and if it is a buyers or sellers market.  According to the National Association or Realtors, a balanced market is 6-7 months of inventory.   The Months of Inventory Remaining for SFH’s in June was 8.3 and for condos was 7.0.  A balanced market for condos and a slight buyers market for SFH’s.

The $1.0 million plus properties are the highest with 15 months of inventory on the market currently.

Everything in Dubai is extravagant.  I guess it would only be fitting that Donald Trump has to be in the middle of it.

His new 62 story Trump International Hotel and Tower on Palm Island  (This is one heck of a website) should be recording breaking.  The penthouse is expected to be sold for $790 million.  Yes that’s right, $790 million.

I wonder if they will do a lay-away program?

the Tower will be the centerpiece of the 560 hectare Palm Jumeirah which is among the world’s largest man-made islands (the nearby The Palm Jebel Ali and The Palm Deira the only bigger ones). To put the scale of this construction in perspective, the amount of sand and rock used is enough to build a two meter high, half meter wide wall that would circle the globe three times!

Read:

Hawaii ranked 4th in growth of personal income for the first quarter, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.Hawaii’s personal income grew 1.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to $52 billion.

As of January 1, 2010, building permitswill not be issued for homes that do not have solar water heaters.   Is this a good move?

Is the real estate market coming to life on the mainland?  Maybe, maybe not.  One things for sure, there are a few signs of life in hard hit areas of the country.

I said last month, that one of the first signs of a recovery in real estate is when the number of sales increase.  We saw that last month, but it was too early to say there could be light at the end of the tunnel.  Now this month, we see California Sales Up 18%, National Home Sales Increased 2% in May, and Pending Home Sales Up 6.3%.

Now, I am not saying all is rosy in the housing market, (so don’t bash me yet) but for prices to level out on the mainland, the demand side must begin to increase and not decrease.  Is this what is happening?  It may take some time to get there.

Bargain hunters have entered the market en masse, especially in areas that have experienced double-digit price declines, but it’s unclear if they are investors or owner-occupants.

Home buyers are starting to get off the fence and into the market, drawn by drops in home prices in many areas and armed with greater access to affordable mortgages.

What you’re seeing in some of the hardest hit markets, like California and Florida, is that Americans still love bargains.