August 15, 2010

Mililani real estate market update

The positive news for Mililani homes for sale was somewhat dampened by simultaneous news of sharply increased rates of foreclosure. Higher rates of foreclosures on the island of Oahu, which stand in stark contrast to the trends seen in the rest of the nation, are a testament to the continued effect of the economic recession on the islands. According to a July 29, 2010 article from the Honolulu Star Advertiser, “Home foreclosures in Honolulu shot up more than 70 percent during the first half of this year even as foreclosure rates began abating in the hardest-hit cities on the mainland, according to report released today. A total of 2,784 Honolulu homeowners received a foreclosure filing between January and the end of June, up 72.3 percent from the first half of 2009, according to the report from real estate research firm RealtyTrac. There was one foreclosure filing for every 121 homes in Honolulu, the 112th highest ratio out of 204 cities surveyed by RealtyTrac…Nationally, foreclosure rates rose in 75 percent of the 204 cities surveyed. However, in nine of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates — including Las Vegas and several cities in Southern California — the foreclosure rate dropped. Las Vegas, which led the nation with one foreclosure for every 15 homes, saw its overall foreclosure rate drop by 9 percent during the first half of the year from the same period in 2009. In Riverside, Calif., where one out of 23 homes is in foreclosure, the rate dropped by 23 percent.”

This negative news for the Mililani real estate market was echoed by a July 30, 2010 report from Credit.com. The piece noted that “In Honolulu, the official unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in June, a relatively low figure compared to other cities around the country. However, the number doesn’t include those who are forced into part-time jobs or have become so discouraged that they’ve stopped looking for work. When they are added in, the rate rises to 15.8 percent. Economists estimate Hawaii has lost about 40,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of the total, since the recession started in late 2007. And a complete recovery in the job market is not even on the radar screen yet. The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, which makes projections only three years out, expects wage and salary jobs to total 609,400 in 2013, still well below the 2007 peak.”