Here is the latest articles from the local papers:

 Market Stats:

 

The market is still weak but we see some signs of good news in the real estate market.  We are also seeing a lot of first time homebuyers entering the market at this time.

 

Sales are up: The number of SFH sales at 225 and condo sales at 263 were up in May compared to 189 and 257 in April 2009.  This is, however, lower than May 2008’s SFH sales of 252 and condos of 382.  We may be lower than last year, but the number of sales have increased every month this year.

 

Prices: Prices Year-To-Date are down for SFH’s 9.5% to $570,000 and condos are down 7.6% to $305,000.  January is still looking like our bottom as far as price goes.

Median Days On Market (DOM): The number of days it takes to sell a home decreased for SFH’s to 49 days and to 52 days for condos.  This is the same range as 2006, 2007, and 2008.

 

Inventory Is Down: As mainland markets have experienced significant inventory bloating, Oahu has not experienced a large inventory increase.  The big news is that inventory is down significantly.  SFH’s are at 1,739 homes for sale and condos are at 2,438.  For SFH’s the inventory level is lower than the May 2008 inventory level and is the 8th out of the last 9 months that inventory has decreased for SFH’s.  This also puts us back into the 2006 inventory levels.  Inventory for condos decreased again for the second straight month as well.

 

Number Of New Listings:  More important news here.  The number of new listings that are being brought on the market keep declining as well.  This is helping keep our inventory down and is an indication of why our inventory is shrinking.

 

Months Of Inventory Remaining Shrinks: As fewer listings come on the market, sales increase and inventory shrinks we see that the Months of Inventory Remaining (MOIR) decreased to single digit levels for both SFH’s and condos.  MOIR tells you how long it would take to sell all the homes currently on the market if you didn’t bring any more properties on the market for sale.  Just 4 months ago, SFH’s MOIR was 15.8 months.  It has now declined to 9.2 months.  For condos MOIR was 16.1 months just 3 months ago and is now at 9.5 months.  ***The one exception here is the $1.0 million plus SFH market.  This market has 40.1 months of inventory remaining.  Everything below $1.0million is in the single digits.

 

The market is still slow, but there are signs of it speeding up some.  With this market info we have and the fact that interest rates have gone up significantly, buyers should be careful waiting to get into the market.  It may cost you.  For sellers, if you are going to sell in this market, now (this summer) may be the best time to do so.