Kona Kohala Blog

Inventory, also called supply, is measured in months for property.  It's the number of months it would take to sell all existing listings if no new property came on the market.  A 6 month inventory is considered a balanced market.  Less than six months is a seller's market and more, a buyer's market.

Today, in North Kona, we have a 30.76 month inventory of condos and a 24.6 month inventory of Single Family Residences (SFR's).  South Kohala is a little more skewed with a 40.09 month supply of condos and a 16.9 month supply of SFR's.  North Kohala has over 4 years worth of homes on the market at 48.57 months.  That's a lot to choose from for a buyer.

These properties are in all price ranges, also meaning you have choices no matter what your price range is.  Interest rates are staying low, for now.  Bank of Hawaii reports 30 year fixed rate loans for just 4.375% interest with 2.375 points for an APR of 4.580%.  That is a great rate!

People are complaining about how hard it is to qualify but it's really not.  It's the way it was before all the creative financing came into play that got us into this fix in the first place.  There are still 100% loans, believe it or not but most require some down, a good credit score (over 700), a job and proof of your ability to repay the loan.  Being a conservative, that sounds reasonable to me.

We have two of the three components of a perfect buyer storm, low interest rates and a huge inventory.  All that's missing are low prices.  The median price today is about where it was in mid 2003.  Hawaii hasn't come down as far as the "sand states" where all the trouble seems to be.  The sand states are California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona.  I have no idea who first called them the sand states; I thought it referred to their less than stable base for all the crazy growth that went on there.

Hawaii may still have a ways to go but when things pick up on the mainland is when people start looking west again.  Although seemingly a little farther away, Hawaii remains a sought after goal for many who dream of living out their golden years, at least part of each golden year, in the sunny warm clime of the 50th state, and why not?

Hopefully, our president will grow a spine and stand up to the other demigods out there like Kim Jung Il who get their kicks firing missiles over our allies like Japan, missiles that could make a mess of Hawaiian real estate.  Obama seems to enjoy playing nice with these people who threaten to annihilate the United States, people like Kim, Iran (I don't want to waste my time learning how to spell or pronounce his name), Chavez, Castro and the rest of the socialists who don't like us.

It's unfortunate that Obama knows so little other than the party dogma.  It's too bad he's had no experience beyond his little Chicago neighborhood organizer role to know what it's like in the real world.  He doesn't believe that there are people out there who want us dead.  He does believe that he can make nice with these people and we can all live happily ever after . . . NOT!

In a time when Russia is rearming itself, when China has more money than it knows what to do with and is building a first class army, navy and air force and when the whinny little demigods like those in North Korea, Iran, Somalia can back down the greatest country in the world, holding onto real estate may be the only asset worth having.

This administration is taking over banks and now industries like GM, Chrysler, etc. and putting their puppets in place to run them.  These are people with no experience, no hands on time in such positions and no business being there.  We know from experience that government can not run a business, there is no question about that.  You think the market is down now, wait till government is making the decisions.

Enough of this rant.  Yes, I'm worried.  Socialism doesn't work.  If it wasn't for the U.S. the world would still be in the 1930's.  It's our ingenuity and creative spirit that drives the world.  It's competition that has made us great.  Socialism kills capitalism so while capitalism may need some reforms, it doesn't need the death knell of socialism.