Hawaii Bucking the Trend of the Mainland in Home Prices

I took this from Inman news yesterday. Hawaii is not continuing to decrease in prices; we are 1 of only 3 areas in the country that are not still losing value. I try and educate my buyers about this everyday, but some still think the prices are going to drop much further and want to wait to buy. DON’T DO IT. Get off the fence and buy now if you have been waiting.

Home values fell 8 percent year-over-year in April, according to a report from property search and valuation site, Zillow. Zillow’s Home Value Index is now down 29.5 percent to a median value of $169,588 from its peak of $240,656 in June 2006. That’s equivalent to the index’s level in May 2003, the report said.

Of 132 metro areas tracked, only three saw year-over-year appreciation:

• Honolulu, Hi. (1 percent)
• Pittsburgh, Pa. (0.9 percent)
• Fort Myers, Fla. (0.5 percent)

Nearly half saw double-digit decreases. Homes in Ocala, Fla. lost the most value (-19.9 percent), followed by Manchester, N.H., and Gainesville, Ga. (-16.5 percent each).

Month-to-month depreciation slowed slightly in April compared to late 2010. From March to April, the index fell 0.8 percent, compared with a 0.9 percent dip between November and December.

“In general, current trends are consistent with our earlier expectations of depreciation rates improving in the spring, but from absolute levels that are high enough and at a pace that is slow enough that a bottom won’t be reached this year,” said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, in a statement. “Key drivers at this point are the pace of foreclosures and improvement in the employment picture.”

Depreciation was sharpest in the least expensive one-third of homes, which fell 1 percent month-to-month and 15 percent year-over-year to a median value of $93,100. Values among the middle tier of homes declined 0.8 percent month-to-month and 8.7 percent year-over-year to a median value of $157,600.

The most expensive third dipped 0.7 percent month-to-month and 4.9 percent year-over-year to a median value of $293,500. The rate of homes lost to foreclosure—those repossessed by the lender, or sold to a third-party at auction—remained flat year-over-year at 10 of every 10,000 homes.

“This rate is substantially higher than the recent low point reached in December 2010, when 8.8 per 10,000 homes were liquidated, but also less than the high point of 11.3 per 10,000 homes reached in October before the foreclosure slowdowns began,” Humphries said.

Foreclosure resales rose for the 10th straight month in April to 24 percent of overall sales, up from 16 percent in April 2010. That figure doesn’t include short sales, which Zillow said accounted for an equal share of transactions in April.

I can answer your questions about our market. Just call or email me at (808)-281-1625, or rustin@hawaiilife.com.

Rustin