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Buying a Home and Living in Kaneohe, Hawaii

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Nov 282011

The Kaneohe real estate, one of the biggest sectors of the Oahu housing market, has continued trending towards continued recovery despite some troubling indicators. While some investors claim that the state of Hawaii has continued facing a high foreclosure rate, the island of Oahu actually did much better in comparison. In fact, Oahu has remained well below Hawaii’s usual rate of foreclosures, with its beachfront properties and single-family homes doing best over the past years. Here are a few things you need to remember before buying a second home in this area.

Kaneohe homes for sale

Located south of Oahu and north of Kailua, Kaneohe remained popular for its strategic location along the stunning Kaneohe Bay. It is also considered as one of the biggest cities in Oahu. Families with children have decided to move to Kaneohe because it features elementary schools and the Hawaii Pacific University, which are both a few miles away from the Pali highway. A huge shopping mall is also located in the heart of the city, thus making things more convenient for those who are new to this area.

While the Kaneohe City has undergone several renovations in the past, it still features a powerful mix of urban development and rural beauty. Kaneohe Bay provides residents and tourists with a certain sense of calmness, and the Koolau Mountain Range offers a beautiful sense of ruggedness to the area. The shoreline of the Kaneohe Bay is also surrounded by the Marine Corps Base, its town homes, and single-family homes. Residents can enjoy a panoramic view of the majestic Koolau Mountains across the Kaneohe Bay.

Haiku Plantation, a gated community in Kaneohe, consists of satisfied residents who are living in large acres of land against the backdrop of the grandiose Koolau Mountain Range. Kaneohe is also home to the popular Windward Mall, which is located near a strip of eateries, churches, private schools, and a medical plaza. Within Kaneohe, you will also see the Hawaii Pacific University. This school focuses mostly on courses that revolve around business administration. The community also has three highways so residents can easily gain access to Pearl Harbor Naval Base and Central Oahu.

Buying a home in Kaneohe

With over 11,000 housing units in Kaneohe, you can now choose from a wide range of single-family homes, condominium units, beachfront properties, and townhouses in this area. From almost anywhere in this area, you can enjoy a breath-taking view of the majestic Koolau Mountain Range. With its bright green and lush foliage, Koolau Mountains will surely make you fall in love all year long. While it is quite rainy in the windward side of Oahu, this is actually a good thing for those who wish to live in a place where the weather is cool all year round.

Before buying a home in Kaneohe, you have to consider hiring an experienced real estate agent. Whether this is your first time to invest in a property or you have already become an expert in buying new homes, it is still best to work with someone who knows everything about the area. Buying a rental home or vacation house in Kaneohe will be a whole lot easier if you are working with an expert who knows exactly what he is doing.

Balboa Island’s real estate market

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May 302011

Balboa Island’s real estate market, spread across three artificial islands in Newport Harbor, faced many of the same woes as the larger Orange County housing market in the month of April 2011. Despite generally favorable economic conditions, such as historically low interest rates, relatively low sales prices, and falling unemployment, the local real estate market remains in a rut. Balboa Island is a largely residential and upscale section of Orange County, and consequently saw a moderate decline in median prices over the last few months. Although the overall median sales price of Orange County residential properties remained steady in April 2011, the subsection of upscale residential sales actually fell in terms of median price. Despite this fall in median price, the volume of properties sold in Orange County fell from both month ago and year ago levels. According to statistics provided by DataQuick, there were approximately seven percent fewer home sales in April 2011 compared to April 2010, and about five percent less compared to March 2011. The anemic nature of the local housing market is especially disturbing when placed in its historical context. In years past, the month of April has been a strong one for housing, although the recession seems to have changed many conventions of local and national real estate. Southern California in general suffered losses as well in April, marking its worst performance in three years and seeing declines in both sales volume and median price.

These indicators seem to point towards a failing recovery on Balboa Island and across Orange County. According to statistics from the California Association of Realtors, pending sales in Orange County were down by more than seven percent compared to year ago levels. Additionally, an economic forecast from California State Fullerton indicated that the median sales price was unlikely to increase by more than five percent in the remainder of the calendar year. The local housing market continued to be flooded by distressed properties as well – more than forty percent of homes on the market in May were short sales or bank foreclosures. While foreclosures dropped off somewhat in recent months this is best understood as a result of backlogs in processing and the fallout from the robo signing scandal.

Kauai real estate markets

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Dec 232010

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The Kauai real estate market continues to struggle with a foreclosure rate well above the national average and the median rate for the state of Hawaii. Although the rate of home sales on the Garden Isle increased somewhat in the most recent tracking period, the median price for both single family homes and condominiums on Kauai fell by double digits. According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, the level of foreclosures in the state of Hawaii declined relative to other states in a nationwide survey of foreclosure rates, but still increased relative to year-over-year levels. A real estate research firm reported that there were 1,271 foreclosure filings against various types of properties in Hawaii during the month of October. That was a thirty-seven percent increase from the 925 filings seen in October 2009, but thankfully represented a decline from the 1,600+ filings seen in both September and August 2010. With this new shift, Hawaii is no longer in RealtyTrac’s top ten states for foreclosure filing rates. It had edged its way into the top ten after reaching 9th in September. It is currently at 12th out of the states that RealtyTrac was able to collect data for. For the entire state, the filing rate was equivalent to just over one foreclosure per four hundred properties, while the prevailing national rate was one filing per 389 homes. Nevada had an abysmal one foreclosure per 79 homes, while Vermont had only one filing per 14,210 homes. Some economists have suggested that Hawaii is substantially behind the curve of recession and recovery, whereas other markets sharply collapsed and rapidly recovered. Until about a year and a half ago, Hawaii had one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the nation. Hawaii homeowners still have to deal with poor unemployment rates, property value adjustments, high mortgage payments, and an unstable economy. On the island of Kauai in October 2010, there was one filing per 320 households, based on 93 filings.

The contrasting trajectories of median prices and sales volume were mentioned in a December 6, 2010 report from Pacific Business News. Although November sales statistics for the Outer Islands showed a slight decline, the year-to-date figures painted a distinctly different picture. With just one exception, the volume of sales increased significantly, while the median sales price of these properties declined. The Realtors Association of Maui and the Hawaii Information Service released numbers indicating that for the first eleven months of 2010, the number of single-family home sales increased by more than twenty percent on Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Lanai, and Molokai. On the Garden Island in particular, condominium sales were up a full fifty percent compared to year ago (2009) levels. The statistics indicated that the increase of Kauai condo sales was driven by sales in Lihue, where the volume of sales rose by more than thirty-five percent. With the exception of single family homes on Kauai, where the median price rose five percent compared to year-ago levels, prices fell in every other Outer Island Market. The most substantial declines were on Maui, where condominium prices fell by an average of eighteen percent, and on Kauai, where the median sales price dipped by twelve percent from about $393,000 to roughly $346,000.

Both luxury properties and public housing projects have run into trouble during recent economic woes, according to Kauai’s newspaper, the Garden Island. Half a dozen luxury properties were recently auctioned off at sharply reduced prices, after the owners of the properties ran economic woes associated with the economic downturn. More tellingly, five of the properties had been on the market for months without attracting the interest of buyers, necessitating the auction process. These properties were found on Kaua‘i’s North Shore in an exclusive subdivision known as Mali‘e Wai. The other property was found in Secret Beach on Kauapea Road in Kilauea. All six of the properties were auctioned off by a New York-based company. The half-dozen properties, which were once valued at approximately thirty million dollars, sold for a collective price of $8,626,750. Even an affordable housing project in Waipouli has been unable to sustain development, leading the company to petition the County Council for changes in its housing agreement. The Council approved the amendment, which would allow the company to rent half of the properties on the open market. It also allows the company an option to sell the property on the open market as opposed to simply renting them.

The San Clemente housing market

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Jun 252010

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The San Clemente housing market, found in the midst of the Orange County real estate market in Southern California, is currently showing signs of growth despite the impending threat of a ‘double-dip’ recession. According to a June 15, 2010 article in the OC Metro, “Orange County’s median home price and sales numbers got a welcome boost in May, partly due to government tax credits, low mortgage rates and more activity in higher-priced areas, according to a new report from MDA DataQuick. The median home price rose to $450,000 in the county, up about 10 percent from the same time last year.” The piece, composed by Kristen Schott, went on to note that “It’s the ninth consecutive year-over-year gain, according to the real estate information service. The price also increased from April when it hit $430,000…However, the May numbers were driven by government incentives, and he said the market will have to ‘stand on its own again’ in the latter half of the year.”

However, one economist is suggesting that the recovery for San Clemente real estate and other aspects of the Orange County economy is only temporary. Christopher Cagan of First American said in an interview with the Orange County Register that, “In the short to near term, I expect a double dip. This is the logical aftermath of the sugar shot from the Federal first time buyer tax credit. It borrowed buyers from the future, and we are now going into that future. Also we are not too far from the end of the traditional SoCal buying season. I have already seen asking prices reduced 5% or so in May from April.” The June 11, 2010 interview of Cagan went on to note that “But I don’t expect a catastrophic drop. To a great extent, prices and mortgage rates are now governed by the authorities – Fed, government, etc.”

According to Steve Thomas of Altera Real Estate, there is still a strong distressed homes market in San Clemente real estate and the rest of the County. He noted that “The distressed inventory continued its slow climb this year, adding an additional 89 homes in the prior two weeks and now totaling 3,080, a 3% increase.”

The Coronado real estate market

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Jun 242010

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The Coronado real estate market, a small portion of the larger San Diego County housing market, continued to show a strong rally in the latest tracking period. According to a June 15, 2010 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, “The California economy is headed for a two-track recovery, with San Diego and the coastal regions coming out of the recession far ahead of the rest of the state, according to a report released Monday by UCLA’s Anderson Forecast.” The piece, composed by Dean Calbreath, went on to state that “Overall, the state’s economy is already on the mend, the report said. The jobless rate – which averaged 12.6 percent during the first quarter – has most likely hit its peak and will decline steadily through at least early 2012, when it finally will drop below the 10 percent mark, the report said. Job growth – while anemic by historic standards – gradually will pick up steam until it finally reaches normalcy in mid-2011.”

The average median price of a Coronado home for sale increased substantially along the rest of the San Diego County housing market. According to a May 25, 2010 article from the Voice of San Diego, “There’s no doubt housing prices have come roaring back this year. New numbers released this morning showed San Diego County home prices rose again in March – marking the 11^th straight month they’ve been headed up.” The piece by Kelly Bennett went on to note that “Local prices rose 10.8 percent between March last year and this March – when buyers scrambled into the market to take advantage of an expiring federal tax credit. That was the second largest increase in any of the 20 cities measured in the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index, a closely watched indicator for the housing market.”

This same pattern in Coronado real estate was reflected in the larger Southern California region. According to a June 15, 2010 report from the Associated Press, “The median home price in Southern California last month rose 22.5 percent from a year earlier and topped $300,000 for the first time in 20 months, as sales continued shifting from low-priced inland areas to higher-end coastal regions, a tracking firm reported Tuesday.”

The Dana Point real estate market

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Jun 232010

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The Dana Point real estate market, a smaller portion of the larger Orange County housing market, showed signs of a possible ‘double-dip’ recession despite continually rising home prices. According to a June 11, 2010 interview in the Orange County Register, “In the short to near term, I expect a double dip. This is the logical aftermath of the sugar shot from the Federal first time buyer tax credit. It borrowed buyers from the future, and we are now going into that future. Also we are not too far from the end of the traditional SoCal buying season.” The piece, which questioned economist Christopher Cagan, continued to state that “But I don’t expect a catastrophic drop. To a great extend, prices and mortgage rates are now governed by the authorities – Fed, government, etc.”

The average price of communities such as Dana Point increased in the majority of Orange County communities. According to a June 12, 2010 article in the Orange County Register, “For the 22 business days ending May 25 – DataQuick’s freshest stats – Orange County homebuying patterns showed: 57 of O.C.’s 83 ZIP codes had gains in their respective median selling price. Overall, prices were +9.9% vs. a year ago. Taking sales volume in consideration, home pricing is up in ZIPs representing 73% of the Orange County market.” The piece went on to state that “6 of 83 O.C. ZIPs had median sales prices above $1 million in the period vs. 11 million-dollar ZIPs when the county median price peaked in June 2007…56 of 83 O.C. ZIPs had year-over-year sales gains in the period. Overall, countywide sales were +14.6% vs. a year ago.”

The median sales price fell relative to March but increased compared to last year, indicating a possible decline in the future. According to a May 24, 2010 article in the OC Metro, “Orange County’s median home price popped 13.7 percent in April, compared to the same time last year, according to a new report from the California Association of Realtors. The number rose to $491,120, up from $432,110 in the same month last year. However, the median fell 0.4 percent from March, when the number hit $493,120.”

The Mission Beach housing market

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Jun 222010

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The Mission Beach housing market, along with the rest of the San Diego County real estate market, continued to make strong strides towards recovery in the most recent tracking periods. According to a June 14, 2010 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune, “San Diego County home prices rose to a median $340,000 in May, the highest since August 2008, as the proportion of foreclosure sales dropped below the 30 percent level for the first time in 2 ½ years, MDA DataQuick reported Monday.” The piece, composed by Roger Showley, continued to note that “The year-over-year price change was 15.3%, the fourth straight month of such an increase, suggesting that the market is broadening to include more higher-priced sales rather than being concentrated at the low end as it has been for three years. The increase from April’s $325,250 was 4.5 percent, the second highest month-to-month change in nearly a year.”

This increase in the median price of a Mission Beach real estate was the continuation of an eleven-month streak, according to a May 25, 2010 article from the Voice of San Diego. This piece noted that “There’s no doubt housing prices have come roaring back this year. New numbers released this morning showed San Diego County home prices rose again in March – marking the 11^th straight month they’ve been headed up.” The article by Kelly Bennett went on to note that “Local prices rose 10.8 percent between March last year and this March – when buyers scrambled into the market to take advantage of an expiring federal tax credit. That was the second largest increase in any of the 20 cities measured in the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index, a closely watched indicator for the housing market.”

The overall economy of the San Diego region, including the Mission Beach housing market, showed considerable growth for more than a year straight. According to a May 27, 2010 article by Dean Calbreath in the San Diego Union-Tribune, “A strengthening job marked pushed San Diego County’s leading economic indicators higher for the 13^th month in a row, indicating that the county will continue to grow moderately through the end of the year…”

Phoenix real estate market

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May 142010

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The Phoenix real estate market continues to face a disastrous combination of foreclosures and distressed properties, although a few indicators seem to point towards recovery. According to a March 30, 2010 article from Housing Wire, “Home sales were up Phoenix during the month of February, and it was the first time since January 2007 that the overall median price for the market didn’t decline year-over-year, according to MDA DataQuick.” The article, written by Austin Kilgore, continued to say that “There were a total of 6,824 new and resale houses and condos sold in Maricopa-Pinal counties metropolitan area in February, up 9.6% from January and up 13% from February 2009. A rise in sales between January and February is typical for the market, and since 1994, Phoenix has experienced an average 9.4% increase between the two months.”

The commercial real estate market, compared with Pleasanton homes for sale, has also been facing serious problems. According to a March 27, 2010 article in the Phoenix Business Journal, “Today, office vacancies in the Valley are again over 20 percent. Industrial vacancies are at 17 percent, and the retail market is struggling after an overabundance of shopping properties were delivered in 2007 and 2008.” The piece, composed by Jan Buchholz, continued to find that “Foreclosures on Phoenix homes still generate dismal headlines, and many touted commercial developments are either on hold or scrapped. Real estate pundits continue to decry the area’s ongoing reliance on population growth and real estate to fuel its economic engine, and they’re calling for change.”

The importance of foreclosure sales to Pleasanton real estate for sale was established by a March 30, 2010 article in the Arizona Republic. According to the piece, “Foreclosures continue to drive indicators and much of the news about the Phoenix housing market. Homebuilding and new-home sales remain near historic lows due to the many foreclosure homes being resold.” The article, composed by Catherine Reagor, continued to state that “In February, there were 532 new houses sold in the Valley, according to the ‘Phoenix Housing Market Letter.’ That compares with 713 sales a year earlier.”

Pleasanton, a major suburb of the San Francisco Bay Area

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May 132010

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Pleasanton, a major suburb of the San Francisco Bay Area, depends heavily on the larger economy of that region. Pleasanton real estate has been facing mixed signals over the last few months, according to a March 11, 2010 article in ABC News 7, “For the first time in a long time, some of the Bay Area’s hardest hit counties are seeing their foreclosure numbers drop compared with last year…At least temporarily, fewer bank-owned properties are coming on the market. In some areas of Contra Costa County, there is intense competition for them among buyers.” The piece, composed by Laura Anthony, continued to say that “Still, there are many Bay Area communities where foreclosure activity is on the rise, including San Mateo County, up 51 percent in the last year and San Francisco, up 58 percent. Counselors say many of the struggling homeowners they see now have lost their jobs.”

One negative piece of news for Pleasanton homes for sale was a decrease in the number of sales, according to a March 19, 2010 article in The Reporter. This piece found that “Solano County home sales, like those in several other Bay Area counties, were sub-par again in February, dipping below the year-ago level for the second straight month as some potential buyers worried about three things: 1) job security; 2) inability to obtain financing; and 3) thin inventories of homes for sale.” According to John Walsh, the President of MDA DataQuick, “The sales and price data remain choppy, with more ups and downs and inconsistencies than we’d typically see. It’s partly the season – January and February are often atypical and don’t serve as good barometers…There’s still relatively little lending going on in the upper price ranges, and little adjustable-rate financing, which had been vital to the Bay Area.”

The conflicted nature of Pleasanton real estate for sale was further illustrated by a March 18, 2010 article in the Contra Costa Times, which noted that “Bay Area home sale prices rose for the fifth-straight month while the number of homes sold fell for the second-consecutive month on a year-to-year basis as some buyers are finding it harder to get into a home due to worries about job security, a lack of inventory and difficulty getting financing.”

Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market

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May 122010

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Some aspects of the Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market are starting to recover, while other signs point towards continued financial distress. One positive bit of news was reported by the Dallas Morning News on March 26, 2010, “After a long freeze on commercial real estate investment, the sales market for Dallas-Fort Worth is beginning to thaw. The last few weeks, the trickle of completed buys in North Texas has started to pick up. And real estate brokers and buyers expect the flow of investment deals to grow stronger in the months ahead.” The piece, composed by Steve Brown, continued to state that “Farber said some potential buyers are still holding back, hoping prices will keep falling. And some are waiting for foreclosure bargains.”

Commercial foreclosures among Dallas-Fort Worth real estate continued to be problematic, however, surpassing the one billion dollar mark. According to a March 23, 2010 article also in the Dallas Morning News, “Commercial property foreclosure filings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area top $1 billion for the upcoming April sales. That’s much higher than commercial foreclosure posting totals in recent months…The Addison-based foreclosure-tracking firm counts 333 D-FW commercial properties scheduled for auction by lenders next month.” The article, composed by Steve Brown, continued to note that “During the last few months, the auction totals have averaged about 250…Not all properties listed for foreclosure each month are actually sold by the lender. Many times, the borrower reaches a new mortgage agreement or delays the forced sale.”

Dallas-Fort Worth homes for sale slipped slightly in February, according to a third article in the Dallas Morning News. This piece, written by Steve Brown as well, found that “North Texas home sales dropped 5 percent in February, the third month in a row that sales by real estate agents were down from a year ago.” The article continued to note that “The local home market had rallied in the fall as first-time buyers scrambled to take advantage of a federal tax credit. The federal incentive program was extended through April and broadened but hasn’t caused a similar uptick in year-over-year home sales.”

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Real Estate Information Blog & News

Buying a Home and Living in Kaneohe, Hawaii

Balboa Island’s real estate market

Kauai real estate markets

The San Clemente housing market

The Coronado real estate market

The Dana Point real estate market

The Mission Beach housing market

Phoenix real estate market

Pleasanton, a major suburb of the San Francisco Bay Area

Dallas-Fort Worth real estate market

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