Almost yawning news as it was expected….again.  Read economists Harvey Shapiro’s post on it.  There were a couple of very interesting comments from his post.

1. Because of the weakening dollar, it’s important to realize that Honolulu properties are inexpensive when compared to real estate in parts of the Mainland and in foreign countries, especially in Europe and Japan. This contrasts with the sticker shock that visitors had when comparing O`ahu housing prices to those back home as recently as the mid-90’s. Honolulu prices were the highest in the US and were $100k higher than the second place city, San Francisco. Now, we’re fourth or fifth from the top.

2. There needs to be a discussion of the US dollar in light of the beating its been taking.  Except for some minor fluctuations last week, the dollar has been consistently losing ground to all major currencies over the past few years. This translates into more expensive imports, including oil, and higher cost international travel.  On the other hand, the weakness in the dollar could add demand for exports from the US and, hopefully, will promote more investment from overseas.

By the way…The Fed Cut Rates As Expected