Hawaii Real Estate Blog

Monday, August 4, 2008 - 11:35 AM HAST,Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Hawaii Superferry's passenger count continues to grow and passengers are giving their experiences high marks, according to a recent survey.

There were more than 36,600 passengers in July, up 40 percent over June, the company said. The number of vehicles transported aboard the Alakai was up 36 percent over June to 9,200.

The company said it averaged 390 passengers and 99 vehicles per voyage between Maui and Honolulu.

"Business is good and we are very pleased with the rate at which our passenger and vehicle loads have increased these past three months," said Hawaii Superferry president and CEO Tom Fargo, in a statement. "We have operated over 400 voyages now and we're equally pleased with the feedback we've been receiving from passengers. Ninety-eight percent said they would recommend traveling with us to their family and friends and that is obviously a key reason for our growth."

Most of the riders surveyed during a study, or 92 percent, said they had a very good experience on their trip.

Hawaii Superferry said it commissioned QMark Research to conduct a study of 347 passengers from June 20 through July 29.

Almost as many, or 90 percent, said they would be very likely to use the Superferry again in the future.

Approximately 39 percent of the passengers said they were using the Superferry for vacation purposes. Meanwhile, 16 percent were visiting family and friends, 13 percent were using it to return home, 12 percent were using the interisland ferry for business, 6 percent were using it to attend an event and 6 percent said they were just trying it for fun.

For more information on the study: www.HawaiiSuperferry.com.

Monday, August 4, 2008 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Home prices on Oahu dipped only slightly in July as the number of sales continued to drop in the double digits.

The median price of a single family home on Oahu was $620,000, which was a 3 percent decline from the median price for July 2007 of $640,000, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

The median price of a condominium last month was $329,900, just 1.5 percent down from July 2007, when the median price for a condo unit was $335,000.

The number of sales, however, fell more than 20 percent in both categories, and the days on market has increased as well, to 52 days for a house to sell and 42 days for a condo, noted Dana Chandler, the board's president.

"Buyers may be more cautious with the current state of the economy, but so far our markets still seem to be operating normally, and Honolulu continues to provide a stable environment for both buyers and sellers," she said.

There were just 251 homes sold in July, which was down 26 percent from July of last year, when 339 sold. It's also in line with sales so far this year, which also are running about 26 percent behind the first seven months of 2007.

The number of condos sold in July was 365 units, down more than 20 percent from the same month in 2007, when 457 units sold. Year to date, sales of condos are nearly 27 percent lower than the same period in 2007.

"The number of resales in the Oahu housing market may be starting to stabilize at these reduced levels," said Harvey Shapiro, the board's research economist. "The rate of decline has softened a bit and this could signal that we're nearing the bottom of this slower market, but we need to see a few more months of data to confirm this."

Three Hawaii beaches were named to TripAdvisor's top 10 beaches in the United States by TripAdvisor travelers and editors.

TripAdvisor, a travel Web site that reviews vacation spots, hotels and attractions, ranked Kailua Beach Park No. 3.

Tunnels Beach on Kauai took the No. 6 spot for its snorkeling. Waimea Bay Beach Park on Oahu was ranked No. 10.

Fort De Soto Park's North Beach in Tierra Verde, Fla., was No. 1.

Shareholders of Countrywide Financial Corp. have approved the bank's acquisition by Bank of America Corp.

Holders of more than 69 percent of the outstanding shares of Countrywide common stock approved the transaction.

The merger is slated to close Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve this month gave BofA permission to buy the subprime mortgage lender. The Fed said BofA will be the largest deposit-taking institution in the United States after the $4 billion purchase, with about $773.4 billion in deposits.

In late April, Countrywide reported a first-quarter net loss of $893 million, or $1.60 per diluted share. In the same period last year, it posted a profit of $434 million, or 72 cents per diluted share.

The company's provision for loan losses rose to $1.5 billion from $152 million a year ago. Residential charge-offs, or loans written off as not being paid, rose to $606 million in the latest quarter from $39 million in the year-ago period.

In August, Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA (NYSE: BAC) invested $2 billion in Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide (NYSE: CFC), the country's largest mortgage lender, for a 16 percent stake.

The first 14 loft apartments in a new urban redevelopment project on Kapiolani Boulevard go on sale this weekend.

The 32-unit Vanguard Lofts includes a new six-story building along with the newly renovated former National Cash Register Building, which featured an addition designed by architect Vladimir Ossipoff.

The project has been under construction since last fall and the first units are expected to be ready in April 2009. JN Automotive is buying the ground-floor retail space, where it plans to relocate its exotic car dealership, which will include the newest nameplate in Hawaii, Bentley.

The loft apartments range from 835 square feet to 2,058 square feet, have one, two or three bedrooms and are priced from $755,000 to $2.1 million. There are 26 different floor plans among the 32 units, and 17 units have either walk-out decks or walk-up roof-top decks, which developer Chris Deuchar, president of U.S. Pacific Development LLC, likens to an "urban yard." A skydeck features a tension-edge pool, grill area and a bar.

Interiors were designed by John Staub from Philpotts & Associates and feature exposed concrete and ceiling heights between nine and 11 feet. Heyer & Associates is handling the sales for the project.

Deuchar has two other redevelopment projects in the works, including the 95-unit Skyline Honolulu project on the slopes of Punchbowl that he said will be similar to the lofts project.

Deuchar is also in the planning stages for The Cove Waikiki, a 119-unit project for the horseshoe-shaped Kaioo Drive off Hobron Lane, which will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom "dwellings" in three mid-rise buildings.

Oahu's single-family homes and condominiums unit sales continued to slow, but prices remained steady in the three-month period ending in May.

The number of single-family homes sold in the period dropped 24.5 percent compared to the same period last year, 762 this year compared with 1,009 in 2007.

Condominium sales slipped 31.4 percent from 1,604 the previous year to 1,101 this year.

The median price for single-family homes was down 1.5 percent to $640,000. Condo prices remained steady at $325,000.

Hawaii ranked No. 42 in the nation for foreclosures in May, up from 36 in April, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac.

Hawaii had 162 foreclosure filings in May, down 22 percent from April and up 25 percent from May 2007. There were 210 foreclosure filings last month and 129 foreclosures in May 2007.

Hawaii had a foreclosure rate of one filing for every 3,087 households, said the latest survey by California-based real estate research firm RealtyTrac.

Nevada again had the highest foreclosure rate in the country with one filing for every 118 households.

California had the second highest foreclosure rate, with one for every 183 households receiving a filing in May. Arizona ranked third, with one filing for every 201 households.

California had the highest number of foreclosures at 71,930.

Nationwide there were 261,255 foreclosure filings for the month, up 7 percent over April and up 48 percent from May 2007, according to the report.

Mortgage rates at Hawaii's four largest banks remained for the most part unchanged this week, varying by just an eighth of a point in both directions.

First Hawaiian Bank lowered its rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan slightly to 5.75 percent with 2 points, down from 5.875 percent last week, according to data from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Bank of Hawaii remained at 5.875 percent with 1.625 points, while Central Pacific HomeLoans bumped its rate on the 30-year loan up an eighth to 5.875 percent with 1.75 points.

American Savings Bank also inched its rate up to 6 percent with 1.625 points, up from 5.875 percent last week.

The Hawaii banks' actions mirror what's going on nationally, in which the 30-year fixed-rate loan averaged 6.09 percent with an average 0.6 point, compared to 6.08 percent last week, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

"Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages were nearly unchanged this week over reports of continued inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Although the gross domestic product grew at a faster rate in the first quarter than originally reported, consumer spending rose only 1 percent, representing the smallest increase since the 2001 recession."