Hawaii foreclosures up; the beginning of the end?

TheHawaiiChannel.com reports that foreclosures have risen sharply on Oahu this month:

"Six months ago, we were looking at maybe 30 foreclosures a month. Today, we are looking for 100 new foreclosures a month," foreclosure investor Courtney Brown said.

Keep your eyes open - Hawaii follows Mainland trends by several years. It's about time all the sub prime loans came to pay the piper.

Is the Hawaii housing market becoming more "balanced"?

The Advertiser runs a sunny story on the good health of the housing market in Hawaii.

The number of O'ahu single-family home and condominium sales peaked in 2005 at 12,607. Sales dropped 17 percent to 10,421 last year, and have continued to decline this year but at a slower pace.

Homes that a couple of years ago spent a median 15 to 30 days on the market before selling have spent a median 40 to 70 days on the market this year.

Inventory, which dropped to roughly 1,700 units in mid-2005, has been around 4,000 this year.

Median prices, meanwhile, began to wobble late last year after doubling since 2001. This year through April, the single-family home median price is up just 1 percent to $630,000. The year-to-date median condo price is $322,000, up almost 6 percent compared with a 15 percent rise last year.

The article also touches on "lending challenges" created by the fallout from the subprime lending fiasco currently taking place on the Mainland.

"It has a tremendous effect," she said. "I find that more challenging than selling. I have the product, but it's the mortgage companies now providing the pressure."

The Hawaii housing product is unique, certainly, but this bubble was built on "creative financing" and "exotic mortgages".

Forbes: Honolulu has 6th least affordable housing in US

It doesn't come as a surprise to anyone in Hawaii, but Forbes just named Honolulu one of the top 10 most overpriced housing markets in America.

With a median home price of $630,000 and P/E ratio the 3rd highest in the nation, you aren't just imagining things when you look around at all this pricey real estate and wonder how people are buying on Hawaii's low wages.

It hasn't popped yet - Oahu prices rise

The Star-Bulletin reports that prices on Oahu are still on the rise.

Home sales were still brisk:

The median single-family home price on Oahu climbed to $665,000 in April, beating out the median last month by 3.3 percent and last year by 8 percent, according to the latest data from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Home sales were strong, with 342 existing homes changing hands, compared to 332 a year ago.

While condo sales slowed:

The condominium market on Oahu reached a median price of $325,000 in April, 9.6 percent higher than a year ago. Condo sales fell, however, by 9.8 percent to 527.

I know I've been away for awhile, but it's still a jungle out there, folks!