Commission is Now Negotiable The way buyer’s agent commissions work has changed, and it’s a shift that firmly benefits you as a seller. If you’ve seen older advice suggesting that commissions are a fixed cost of doing business, it’s time to hit the refresh button. We now recommend to all our sellers that the commission … Read more
Home sales have now dropped below the very lowest level during the COVID crisis. Also, the Fed is not done raising interest rates.
As pending home sales have dropped lower than the 2008 housing crash, it is an excellent time to revisit what happened in 2008, as it seems we are going there again. In June 2007, the median Single Family Home price on Oahu was $685,000. It went down and did not recover to $685,000 until December … Read more
Investors seem to think so based on the 1-year stock declines for the biggest Real Estate public companies.
Approximately 23% of homes in the MLS have an assumable mortgage, but less than 1% of the homes for sale are marked that way. This means most sellers do not realize their loan is assumable. VA, FHA, and USDA loans are assumable by anyone, not just the military. 22% of all sales this year were … Read more
The More Homes on the Market Act, a bipartisan, NAR-endorsed bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives, would double the capital gains exclusion for sales of principal residences from $250,000 to $500,000 for single filers and from $500,000 to $1 million for married couples – and index these amounts for future inflation. While the … Read more
Many feel Oahu is so desirable that the median price of homes will not decrease. While I agree it is a great place to live, we have periods of falling prices. As shown in this chart, we have had some drops, one over a 10-year period. The question is whether the current mortgage rate increases … Read more
As the rates go up, keep in mind VA and FHA loans can be assumed by anyone. You do not have to be in the military. We have a listing that comes with a 2.75% assumable mortgage, and that rate saves a lot of money right now. All sellers should keep this in mind as … Read more
Sales are definitely cooling. 34.4% less than last September, and the average days on market has doubled for Single Family. Surprisingly, the median price is still up, but if the sales continue this slow down at some point, I expect the median price to drop too.
For comparison, in the 2008 crash, prices declined 27%. According to Moody’s, Oahu is up to 25% overvalued as mortgage rates go above 7%. Every day sellers ask me if now is the time to sell or should they wait. I say sell now because the market could be a lot lower going forward.