A Daily Shot of News

The Kahala real estate market, an upscale portion of the larger Oahu and Hawaii housing markets, started to stage a strong recovery in the most recent tracking period. According to a June 8, 2010 article from Pacific Business News, “Home sales on Oahu rose considerably in May, while prices for single-family homes and condominiums posted modest gains compared to the same month last year. The median price of a single-family home in May was $606,000, which was a 12 percent boost over May 2009, when the median price was $542,000, according to statistics from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.” The piece went on to say that “That was based on 284 home sales, which was a 31.5 percent increase over 216 sales in May 2009. Condo sales on Oahu soared 35.5 percent in May to 355 units sold, up from 262 units sold in 2009.”

The number of Kahala homes for sale which were actually purchased, along with housing units in the rest of the island, increased substantially in the month of May. According to a June 8, 2010 article in the Hawaii News Now, “Honolulu home sales are picking up, prices are mostly higher, and two other metrics show the strength of the market is growing. In May on Oahu, 284 homes went to closing, about a third more than in May of last year, for a median price of $606,000 that was up $64,0000 from back then.” The piece, written by Howard Dicus, went on to state that “The Honolulu Board of Realtors reported Tuesday that 355 condos went to closing for a median price of $312,500 that was up more than $12,000 from last year at the same time. This continues a trend of some months, but deep detail in the version of the report transmitted to real estate agents themselves showed not two but four factors that point towards economic recovery.”

This good news for Kahala real estate was echoed in a June 8, 2010 article from KITV 4 News, which reported that “The median prices for resold single-family homes and condominiums in May climbed while the number of units sold dipped slightly, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.”

When you want to buy or sell a property, it is important to have a real estate agent. But why should you hire a real estate agent? Basically, you are able to buy or sell a property without the help of an agent. But most people who do not hire a real estate agent when they buy or sell a property ends up getting the wrong side of the deal. Real estate agents can help you make the right decision. Here are seven reasons why you should hire an agent:
1. A real estate agent has more experience and is well educated in real estate than you are. You wouldn’t have to know everything about buying or selling real estate if you have an agent with you. You hire them simply because they are smarter and way more experienced than you in terms of real estate selling or buying.

2. A real estate agent is able to prevent you to negotiate with others who are not serious about the business. If you are a buyer, your real estate agent will prevent builder’s agents to get to you. If you are a seller, your real estate agent will filter your callers so that you need not talk to buyers that are not serious and talk only to those that really want to buy a real estate.

3. A real estate agent can bring you the information that you need. They can give you a similar list of sales and data on demographics, crime and schools on the locality.

4. A real estate agent can guide you to make the right decision. For example, there is a listing that is at 7%, which means that an agent has 7% interest while the client gets a 93% interest. A real estate agent will be able to use all the information they have and help the client make the right decision. He/she can also work out his own negotiation strategy that is based on demand, conditions and market supply.

5. A real estate agent is able to relate market conditions to help you sell or buy real estate. Many aspects on the market establish how you should continue on buying or selling real estate. Real estate agents gather information on the average of both the days on market and the square foot cost of similar homes. They also get information on median and average sales price. These data are important for you to make a wise decision.

6. A real estate agent can help you work with other professionals that will then offer their service for you to buy or sell real estate. They can give you information on different vendors that has a good reputation for competency, competitive pricing and efficiency to help you make a good choice.

7. A real estate agent has a good negotiation skill that will help you buy or sell properties. You need their skill in order to buy or sell real estate. Furthermore, they can make the client’s information confidential.