April 2010 E-mail Update

This is my 4/9/10 E-Mail Update. I send a monthly e-mail update after statistical for the preceding month has been placed on the Honolulu Board of Realtor’s website and for newsletter mailing months like April, after the newsletter has been posted on our website here where it can be downloaded My staff routinely adds most new e-mail addresses we receive to the distribution list. To be removed, select reply and me an e-mail stating that. Please include your first and last name, so it is easier to find you in our database.

It appears we may have turned the corner on sales. Comparing the first quarter of 2010 to the same period in 2009, sales of houses were up 36.6% (608 compared to 445) while sales of condos were up 48.7% (837 compared to 563).  Median sales prices over the three-month period went from $565,000 in 2009 to $590,000 in 2010 (up 4.4%) while condos went from $299,000 to 301,500 (up 0.8%) What is unknown is the impact of the $8,000 homebuyers tax credit originally set to expire on 11/1/09 and now set to run out 4/30/10. To qualify for the credit, buyers have until April 30th to sign purchase agreements and until June 30th to close. There is also a $6,500 credit for repeat buyers, who have been in their existing home for more than five years. Some analysts believe that the program is similar to the “Cash for Clunkers” that got people buying autos while others believe the improvement is a cyclic result of an improving housing market. A couple of months from now we’ll have much better information. Here is a link to an applicable article in the April 8th Honolulu Advertiser.

Honolulu was ranked the second-most expensive city in the world to do business among 112 cities studied in a recent global survey. The 2010 study measured 26 cost components including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities. Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco also fared badly in the survey, ranking within the top ten globally thanks to high labor costs . . . Hilton believes the future is timeshare. The global resort company is planning a two-tower, 550-room expansion at the Hilton Hawaiian Village that will be devoted entirely to timeshares. Hotel companies have been shifting their room mix to include a larger share of timeshare units in recent years. Because they are prepaid, timeshare memberships provide hotels with higher occupancy rates and a steadier stream of revenue even during times when the visitor industry is slumping. An example is the Disney resort being built at Ko Olina that will have a mix of 480 timeshare units and 350 traditional hotel rooms.

One of the most well-liked and respected sports figures in Hawaii has been basketball player/coach Bob Nash who was the school’s first All American and a 1972 NBA first-round draft pick. He played professional basketball for several years before returning to UH as an assistant coach to Riley Wallace for 20 years whom he eventually succeeded. Unfortunately, Nash’s record as a head coach has led to his replacement. His overall record was 34-56, 15-33 in the WAC. This past year his team went 10-20 and 3-13 in the WAC. An argument could be made that his recruiting efforts were handicapped by lack of support from the UH Athletic Director but still 3-13 in conference doesn’t get it done. Replacing Nash will be Gib Arnold (41) whose father, Frank Arnold, was the UH coach for two years in the 1980’s with a record of 11-45. Gib Arnold was a star basketball player at Punahou. For the past five years, he has been an assistant coach at USC. His selection has generated a fair amount of controversy.

The television hit “Lost” that is filmed on Oahu is planning a two-hour finale on Sunday, May 23rd that will follow a one-hour review. The show is winding down after generating huge viewership during its six seasons on the air. With reruns, more than 10 million people see “Lost” each week . . . Recently, two bills were passed to reduce the homeless population in city parks. The first bill requires permits before people can erect tents in the parks while the second prohibits the use of shopping carts in the parks. A couple of weeks ago, I had occasion to drive up the Makaha Coast and was very pleasantly surprised to see a major reduction in homeless tents.