Hawaii real estate news

Oahu low flush $100 toilet rebate will expire this year Have you replaced your toilet lately? If you've been thinking about it, now is a good time to get it done. Ten years ago, the City and County of Honolulu decided to offer a rebate to people replacing their toilets with a low-flush toilet. The rebate is $100 for toilets installed no later than June 30, 2008. The application form must be filed with the City and County no later than July 1, 2008. The new generation of low flush toilets work... Read Full Post

Deadline for filing Oahu tax appeals is 1/15/08 If you're a homeowner on Oahu and want to appeal your assessed property value, the deadline is next Tuesday! Your letter must be postmarked by that date or you'll have to wait until next year and try again. The tax assessment office does not accept appeals sent by fax. The form for filing appeals is BFS-RP-P-51. You can download it at our website: http://www.oahumls.net/realestatefaq.php. Please note that there's a $25 fee payable to the City an... Read Full Post

Heavenly Hana is happening! Why do I say that? Because Hana is a favored area for people that want to be away from the crowds. The most famous example is probably Oprah Winfrey. Olivia Harrison (George Harrison's wife - George passed away in 2001) also has property in Hana. I've been looking at properties with customers in Hana lately and it's interesting to see people that like this life of seclusion. Okay, Kahului is a 2-hour (or less) drive and only about 20 minutes by airplane. Being a Ho... Read Full Post

Makaha Valley recovers from a recent fire A month ago Oahu was lacking rain and the leeward areas of the island were drying up. At times like this brush fires are common events. One month ago today a fire spread in Makaha Valley. Residents of Makaha Valley Towers got a spectacular view of the fire. I spoke with some residents yesterday and they said it caused some dust and odor but otherwise was not a scary situation. Since the fire we've had some rain and oh, what a difference. Here's a phot... Read Full Post

Hawaii's real estate statistics for September 2007 were published last week and foreclosures have doubled compared to a year earlier. Shocking? It sounds bad but Hawaii still ranks as the state with the 10th lowest rate of foreclosures in the U.S. In September there were 135 foreclosure filings in Hawaii, or one filing per 3,638 homes. Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate with one filing per 185 households for a total of 5,504. Total foreclosures in the nation for September were 223,538. O... Read Full Post

Hurricane Flossie updates in plain English 9:00 P.M August 15, 2007 Flossie is gone! Life gets back to normal. 11:00 A.M. August 15, 2007 Hurricane Flossie is downgraded to category 1. Flossie brought rains to the south and eastern sides of the Big Island. Currently south of Oahu, we have cloudy skies and windy weather. It looks like everything will be okay. 11:00 A.M. August 14, 2007. Flossie has been downgraded to Category 2. Passing approxmately 200 miles south of the Big Island today, it ... Read Full Post

The Honolulu Board of Realtors just posted its sales statistics for June, 2007. The results show that our housing market remains strong. After a tradtional lull at the beginning of the year from the holidays, homebuyers began making purchases again and Oahu's prices are on the rise. Let's put it on paper (or computer screen). Oahu home prices 2007 through June Homes prices # of sales Condo prices # of sales June 2007 685,000 338 334,000 547 2007 YTD 645,000 1,902 325,000 2,978 May 2007 650,00... Read Full Post

It's all over the news in Hawaii. The Big Island is shifting, expanding in one area and contracting somewhere else, just like a person's body when they breathe. Scientists think we're due for an eruption. Kilauea's current cycle started in 1983. We've been able to periodically checkout real hot lava for decades now. Sometimes it goes underground for awhile, now it looks like there's going to be some fireworks for the fourth of July! What does this mean for homeowners and prospective buyers in... Read Full Post

Recently a customer asked me some specific questions about Hawaii's real property tax rates. Among other things, she was concerned that, upon buying a house here, the assessed value would increase significantly, leading to higher taxes. This customer currently lives in California and she explained how it works there. When a house is sold, the assessed value automatically adjusts to the sale price. Real property taxes are assessed at one percent. For the $500,000 house, annual real property ta... Read Full Post

The Honolulu Advertiser had an interesting article about Hawaii's population yesterday. The State's population increased six percent from the year 2000 to 2006. Hawaii's population consistently grows and Oahu's population has increased by nearly 34,000 people since 2000. That's all? Keep in mind, we have less than 1.3 million people in the state. What I'm thinking about is, how people afford their homes here. Buyers are challenged with purchasing properties that are far from downtown Honolulu... Read Full Post