I was speaking with Kelly Barnes—a HomeGain agent and Realtor who uses BuyerLink—over the weekend about the market in Hawaii and he graciously agreed to send me an update, which I’d like to share.

Hawaii Real Estate Market Update

Every year a large number of military families relocate to Hawaii. In addition a good number of people relocate in Hawaii just to live in paradise. The good news is the value of Hawaii’s residential properties are still holding strong, unlike many areas on the mainland which have seen dramatic decreases in recent times.

On Oahu, although the actual “number” of residential real estate sales has slowed down, overall prices have been staying fairly steady. For instance, the difference in values of single family homes between this time last year and now is only a decline of 4.4%. Sales of 740 single-family homes and 1,121 condominiums were recorded in the April-to-June period this year.

Compared to the same time period last year, the 2008 sales figures showed a decline of 28.6% for single-family dwellings and a 30.7% decrease for condos. When these second quarter sales numbers were compared to the first quarter, we saw increases of 10.0% and 8.1%, respectively, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

We at The Team of Kelly Barnes and Joelle Johnson serve as a real estate specialists for military families relocating to Hawaii. This past month, for example, we helped a family of two Navy Lieutenant’s make a smooth transition from Florida to Oahu. One of our team of professional agents first worked closely with the clients by phone to discover exactly what their requirements were for their new home along with pricing and monthly house payment options.

We also assisted by providing information regarding the number of bedroom and bathrooms, approximate square footage, amenities, along with information about local schools, shopping, recreation, etc. in neighborhoods of interest.

After reviewing the information online and by phone, the clients then flew to Hawaii to preview homes of interest. We escorted them to each pre-selected home to ensure they found the perfect home for their family’s needs. Before they returned to Florida, we had the home of their dreams in escrow. When they made their final PCS transfer to Pearl Harbor, they were able to close and move in to their new home within one week after returning to the islands.

Being a real estate agent in Hawaii requires us to do more, especially as a good portion of our business deals with relos.

Most agents simply “find” homes to buy. We have a combined 16 years of experience buying, selling and managing both residential and commercial real estate.

While Hawaii may be an easy sell, we pride ourselves on helping our customers find great properties while saving them time and money when buying homes in Hawaii.

Aloha!

Kelly Barnes is a Realtor with The Team of Kelly Barnes and Joelle Johnson in Hawaii.

For more regional updates, click here.

Click to learn more about Honolulu Real Estate and Honolulu home prices.

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Louis Cammarosano