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Dec
30
Posted by matthew smith
OK - Here’s the recent headline news on a day long power outage that hit Honolulu and the entire island of Oahu this past week.
Almost all of Oahu had electrical power restored Saturday after a power failure blacked out the island’s population of about 900,000 and thousands of holiday visitors, including President-elect Barack Obama and his family
Residents had been urged to just stay home after the lights went out during a thunderstorm Friday evening. The Hawaiian Electric Company was investigating the cause.
I’m a little concerned the likely cause could well have been a disgruntled republican interfering with Obama’s holiday visit. No - most likely it was the thunderstorm passing over the island.
Some of the inconveniences suffered island wide as a result of the one day power outage. The average indoor-outdoor temperature immediately prior to the outage was around 80 degrees. As a result of the outage, huge savings on power usage was thrust upon all Oahu households resulting in an average indoor-outdoor temperature of around 80 degrees. Instead of cooking outdoors on barbeques and gas grills on the lanai, at the park, or on the beach, Oahu residents toughed it out through a day of cooking outdoors on the barbeque or gas grill. Island wide, many parks that serve as shelters for the homeless were made available as shelters for all. However, most slept through the night in their homes with no blankets or top sheets pretty much as they usually do on a night with power. In fact, keeping items cold was the most challenging effort of the day for most residents.
Given this scenario, it was not surprising to learn Obama turned down a fourth generator offered to him by Mayor Mufi Hannemann of Honolulu who said three generators had been installed earlier for Mr. Obama’s use at a rented compound on Kailua Beach. Mr. Obama stated he didn’t need anything, was grateful for the offer, and was going to put his own family to bed.
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Dec
14
Posted by matthew smith
New Construction - Kaneohe Bay View Home - Kaneohe
By: Hugh Yonamine - Senior Mortgage Consultant - Pacific Home Finance
While the mortgage market continues to generate a lot of chatter in both the media and in Washington, interest rates are currently near or at all-time lows. If you or anyone you know are looking to take advantage of these low rates, let me explain why now is the time to act.Lately there has been talk about the 4.5% 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Will it become a reality though? Right now, no one really knows. Homeowners who could benefit from a lower interest rate need to know that even if 4.5% becomes a reality from Washington’s actions, it would only be available to home buyers, not homeowners seeking to better their rate. If you need to refinance, you will be left out.
You also may have heard about Hope for Homeowners, which is a program approved by legislators to help distressed homeowners. However, regardless of its best intentions, the program has not been embraced by investors, and it is not available to many it could help.
The bottom line is, the Fed announced recently that they are going to buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities. This has already driven rates to historical lows. In January, the SEC is meeting and information may be released that could have a significant bearing on rates, potentially for the worse.
Waiting to obtain the best rate is only possible for those with loan applications already in process. Interest rates are incredibly volatile and fluctuations that used to take months are now occurring in just days or even hours. If you don’t have an application in process, you could lose out.
We are already seeing lender backlog due to low interest rates. In 2003, with rates at these same low levels, we saw some lenders taking up to 90 days to close a loan.
Home loan rates are currently in the mid- to low-5% range. Home values are currently at 2003-2004 levels, coming down significantly from their high point. If you–or friends and family members you know–are contemplating seeking financing, now is the time to act.
With a first time home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500 and low or no money down programs available for many people today, now is a great time to buy a home.
Contact the Honolulu Real Estate Undressed Team for assistance in locating a great Hawaiian Island property with prices at or below 2003 - 2004 levels. Let the mortgage consultants at Pacific Home Finanace handle your financing at todays record low rates.
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Dec
03
Posted by matthew smith
- Honolulu Bank Towers
Hawaii may just be the safest place to buy real estate with available local bank financing. Hawaii banks remain strong and profitable. Home prices have held steady compared to mainland markets. There is only so much available real estate in the islands. Now is an opportunistic time to buy and own a piece of the Aloha State, says Judy Gervin of Honolulu Real Estate Undressed - East Oahu Realty.
The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
HONOLULU: Take a quick stroll among the palm trees and commercial towers in Honolulu’s financial district and major U.S. banks like Washington Mutual, Bank of America and Wachovia are nowhere to be found.
The dominant players here are Bank of Hawaii, American Savings Bank, Central Pacific Bank and First Hawaiian Bank, as they have been for decades. And unlike some of their larger, mainland counterparts who have been drowning in a sea of red ink, island institutions continue to post strong, even record, profits. And so far, they have withstood the mortgage meltdown in the U.S.
“We’re the luckiest bank in the world,” said Allan Landon, chairman and chief executive of Bank of Hawaii.
It wasn’t all luck. The four banks are weathering the financial storm by avoiding subprime lending, maintaining their conservative practices and keeping in mind the region’s long-lasting economic downturn in the 1990s. That’s when the Japanese financial bubble burst and so did all the frenzied, speculative buying by international investors that inflated real estate prices in Hawaii.
“They’ve seen these cycles, so they understand that being old-fashioned or being conservative may not be sexy, but over the long term, it’s proved to be a sound business practice,” said Gary Fujitani, executive director of the Hawaii Bankers Association.
For the past two months, the banking industry has been pummeled by forces not seen since the Depression of the 1930s. Some of the biggest and most powerful banking companies in the country — with names such as Washington Mutual, Wachovia and National City — have disappeared, swallowed by larger companies in an effort to avoid a total collapse. Others continue to struggle. Just last week, Citigroup said it would eliminate 53,000 jobs, as its shares plunged and analysts speculated that it will have to be broken up or sold.
It’s not complete doom and gloom, though. Some banks are showing financial resiliency and the ability to churn out profits. They include Paramus, New Jersey-based Hudson City Bancorp, which reported a 64 percent jump in net income for the third quarter, and Kansas City, Missouri-based UMB Financial Corp., whose profits edged up 1 percent to $21.8 million.
Perhaps nowhere is the success as widespread as it is in the Aloha State. These banks did what successful financial institutions have done for decades: Pay close attention to the balance sheet and lend to people who can pay you back. It’s a roadmap, experts say, that could be used to help the rest of the industry save itself.
“Sound underwriting never goes out of fashion,” said Diane Casey-Landry, chief operating officer of the American Bankers Association, who added that prudent lending standards are now being more widely adopted.
“Real banking, in a sense, is back,” she said. “The underwriting that was being done by some of the non-banks and new players in the market, was not the underwriting banks were doing. Banks have always had a higher standard.”
Banks and other lenders that purchased or made bad mortgages by the billions got away from the fundamentals. Not so in Hawaii.
“The bottom line is, we’re a pretty conservative lot,” Landon said. “We’ve got enough people who’ve been around to remember when banks got in trouble before, and that’s not a fun place to be.”
Landon said he could never find out how to make money on the new products that were being offered over the past several years.
“I can’t think of an interest rate you can charge to make up for losing your principal,” he said.
Not only are the banks here conservative, so are many borrowers. They largely stayed away from risky mortgages from outside lenders that underwrote mortgages with very little down, changing rates and no income verification.
“You have a combination of good banks and a little more conservative culture. You put those two together and we’re a little better off,” said Tim Schools, president of American Savings Bank, who estimated that 90 percent of his companies mortgages were traditional 15- and 30-year products.
Also, many home buyers purchased properties with the intention of living there for a long time. There wasn’t as much “flipping” or speculative buying as in other sunshine states such as California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida.
“I think there’s a different perspective of a home,” Fujitani said.
Exotic and subprime mortgages do exist here, but the percentages are small since they were only offered by outside lenders, some of which have closed shop. This may have helped shield island residents from the array of mortgages and products that were readily available in other states.
Despite their small presence, out-of-state lenders own the bulk of foreclosures in Hawaii, according to the state Division of Financial Institutions. While isle foreclosures have been rising at a brisk pace, they are still much lower than the national average.
There are nine FDIC-insured, Hawaii-based financial institutions, and all of them are considered well capitalized. The big four, which owns more than 90 percent of the state’s $27 billion in deposits, reported impressive third-quarter earnings, especially in this financial climate:
_ American Savings, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, earned $15.4 million, up 31.6 percent from a year ago.
_ First Hawaiian, owned by France’s BNP Paribas, reported record profits of $55.4 million, up 6 percent.
_ Central Pacific returned to a profit of $3 million after heavy second quarter losses relating to its exposure in California.
_ Bank of Hawaii earned $47.4 million, down slightly from the $47.8 million a year ago.
In another show of confidence, Territorial Saving Bank announced last week it would go public in the first quarter of 2009, despite the economy. For the first nine months this year, the company earned $6.5 million, up 33 percent from the year-earlier period.
The 24-branch company said it remains “strong” and wants to expand. It also noted it does not need a handout from the U.S. Treasury.
Hawaii isn’t the only place where banks are thriving. There are about 8,400 banks nationally and the vast majority are smaller community banks that never made or acquired risky loans, according to the Hawaii Bankers Association.
“The media paints us with a broad brush, but we’re not (the same),” Fujitani said. “There’s just handful of banks that are in crisis.”
Karen Tyson, spokeswoman for the Independent Community Bankers of America, said most of her trade group’s 5,000 members are in good shape.
“Community banks are bright spot in the storm … They operate with safe, sound businesses practices and commonsense lending and underwriting standards and they continue to do that,” she said.
Eric Mais, head of the finance department at the University of Hawaii, said Hawaii banks required larger down payments and were more rigorous in verifying income and credit worthiness than other lenders.
Also, home prices, while on the decline, have remained relatively stable. In Hawaii, where a modest 1,500-square-foot (139 sq. meter) home can cost $600,000 or more, buyers may be more hesitant to default since they generally have invested more.
“Twenty percent on $600,000 is a lot different from 20 percent on a $200,000 house,” Mais said.
Hawaii banks mainly compete in the local market and Pacific territories, such as Guam. Central Pacific, however, got into California and paid for it, losing $146.3 million in the second quarter. The losses were related to loans made to homebuilders that were affected by the subprime collapse. The bank has since aggressively cut its residential construction portfolio in California.
“Even in the past year, while we were experiencing our credit challenges in California, we continue to perform in the Hawaii market,” said Dean Hirata, the bank’s vice chairman and chief financial officer.
While some major banks offer mortgages and commercial loans in Hawaii, they do not have branches that accept deposits, a key to profitability. Bank of America was the last and it abandoned the islands more than a decade ago.
While owning the market, Hawaii banks still face challenging times. Tourism is off, unemployment is rising, home prices are not rising, and construction is slowing.
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Oct
03
Posted by matthew smith
With Bellevue, Washington in first place - Honolulu, Hawaii made it again in the top best 100 places to live and launch in the nation.
Population: 383,424
Pro: Easy access to Asian markets
Con: High cost of living.
An ocean may separate Honolulu and the rest of the country, but free wireless Internet throughout much of the city, plus a time zone midway between New York and Asia, means that entrepreneurs here can be more connected than their mainland peers. Global-minded business owners can reach New York markets in the morning and Asian contacts in the afternoon, while the University of Hawaii supplies a well-educated workforce.
Tourism has long been a major industry, but finance, insurance, health care, and construction are also growing sectors. Tech businesses receive a boost from the city’s tech-friendly tax structure (royalty income from the sale or licensing of intellectual property is exempt from both general excise and income taxes; and tax credits are awarded to firms that boost their research activity).
Hawaii Business Express assists entrepreneurs in working through red tape, and nonprofits such as HiBeam, a tech mentoring firm, also get start-ups off the ground. A little more than half of Honolulu County’s private-sector businesses operate with four or fewer employees.
The cost of living is high - but so is the quality of life. Palm trees, sandy beaches, and other outdoor attractions convince many educated workers to stick around. -Peter McDougall
Interactive map: Honolulu
Find homes for sale in Honolulu
67 of 100
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Aug
19
Posted by matthew smith
SAM CHOY’S DIAMOND HEAD RESTAURANT
449 Kapahulu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
(Honolulu / Kapahulu Area)
Tel. (808) 732-8645
Sumptuous award-winning local-style dishes in Sam’s signature generous portions. One of the twelve chefs who originated Hawaii Regional cuisine. (D $$$)
ALAN WONG’S RESTAURANT
1857 South King Street, 3rd Floor
Honolulu, HI 96826
(Honolulu / McCully Area)
Tel. (808) 949-2526
Famous local chef - one of the originators of Hawaii Regional cuisine. National multi-award winning restaurant. Local awards include: 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006 & 2007 Hale Aina Award for “Restaurant of the Year”; 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006 Ilima Award. (D $$$)
CHEF MAVRO
1969 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(Honolulu / McCully Area)
Tel. (808) 944-4714
A founding member of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, Chef George Mavrothalassitis employs a master’s technique in melding fresh, regional ingredients with the flavors of his native Provence. A dining experience comparable to a 3-Star restaurant in France. 2003 winner of the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award as the best chef in Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. Multiple Ilima and Hale Aina award winner. (D $$$)HULA GRILL
Whalers Village
2435 Kaanapali Parkway
Kaanapali, HI 96761
(West Maui)
Tel. (808) 667-6636
On the beach. Chef Peter Merriman’s award winning Hawaii Regional Cuisine. (LD $$$)
Living in Hawaii will allow you to become a favorite at many of the award winning restaurants on the islands and enjoy all the menu items!! Yum.
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Aug
13
Posted by matthew smith
Check this piece of real estate out! Go to www.vrbo.com and look up property 197806 - Maybe even reserve it?
This Hawaii-designed castle sits on the top of the world overlooking the blue Pacific Ocean, Koko Head, Diamond Head, and several islands such as Molokai. It is located in an exclusive private gated community with the wealthiest zip code in the Hawaiian Islands. This community has its own club house, gardeners, security team, and tennis courts. It is known for its gorgeous private homes and open ocean views – all great for whale watching during winter months. Also, walking ten minutes from the front door one finds beautiful hiking trails into the Hawaiian rain forest.
This large, 3000-square-foot Mediterranean castle is terraced with its own moat, meditation area, and a private forest with over sixty mature trees such as Italian cypress, Hollywood juniper, and hibiscus — a tropical paradise. The castle is fully furnished with numerous oil paintings since the owner resides there part of the year. The castle has four levels of living space with exacting attention to detail throughout. Special features include Roman and Greek relief’s and sculptures and exclusive lighting fixtures imported from Italy. For relaxed Hawaiian living, very high ceilings and hardwood floors provide feelings of warmth and spaciousness. The elegant private courtyard landscaped with orchids and tropical plants has a swimming-pool-deep spa suitable for nude bathing and sunbathing. In total, the castle contains 3½ bedrooms, 3½ baths, secluded library, a unique gourmet kitchen, and lastly, a superb underground wine cellar with tasting room adjacent to wine racks, a 1,300 bottle capacity.
Water is seen everywhere, and just 5 minutes away by car is the beach. Concierge and personal shopping help available.
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Aug
11
Posted by matthew smith
Most folks automatically think home prices in Honolulu, and Hawaii are so high only the rich and famous are able to afford them. Sure, Oprah owns a home or two in Hawaii, and lots of acreage on Maui, I understand. Michelle Pfeiffer owns a property down the street from me past the Paul Mitchell estate. Did you know Paul died years ago eating Puffer fish? One of Don Ho’s homes recently sold just past Michelle’s home for just over $5 Million that his children used. I can’t even begin to afford their side of the street. The list goes on. Why, even Senator Barack Obama is a native of Hawaii. I’m not certain if he owns a home here, but he might consider that if he follows our Honolulu Real Estate Blog. Though there are plenty of homes around the Hawaiian Islands owned by the rich and famous, there countless more that are not. Many are surprisingly affordable.
There are homes and condo’s available throughout Honolulu, and Hawaii in general that fit most everyone’s home buying budget – or possibly 2nd home budget. Downtown Honolulu condo’s that are one bedroom and one bath – and fully remodeled can be had from the mid $200’s on up. Many with decent views and include a parking space or two. I know of one coming on the market soon in a high rise adjacent to the Ala Wai canal in Waikiki in the mid $300’s. From downtown Honolulu to Ewa, and Hawaii Kai to Kailua/Kaneohe, there are countless two and three bedroom condos available in the mid $400-600’s. Some are even brand new. Many have amenities like views, pools, spas, parking, tennis courts and more. Homes will typically start in around the mid $600’s and $700’s with lots to choose from. So, to get to that million dollar property and higher – you typically have additional requirements that most often include a particular neighborhood or area like waterfront, or close to the water. The property taxes in Honolulu and on Oahu compared nationwide are respectably low too considering Honolulu and Hawaii as a whole is a tropical paradise.
