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Kona Bay Estates An ocean lover’s delight! Beachfront residence in a private gated community. Features 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, den, elevator and two ocean front lanais. Popular vacation rental. MLS# 278256 $2,423,000 Call Dana M. Ching, RS-40634, GRI • 808-989-6792 Sugar Cane Lane 75-1040 Mino’aka Place Kailua-Kona. Brand New Custom Quality Construction in this 3 bedroom, 2 bath open fl oor plan, separating 2 guest rooms. Pocket glass doors lead to Kona Bay and coastline views. Landscaped. MLS# 289699 $1,060,000 Kathryn E. Foster, RS-60767 • 808-936-4237 1 bed/1 bath in a quiet complex located minutes to town. LOW Hoa’s ($292/month), ocean view, quality fi nishes, oM LS# 292403 $229,000 Erin C. Detwiler, RS-76700 • 808-557-9044 IN ESCROW Hualalai Village #B103 and lots of storage. dcinc100@gmail.com Harbor View - Kailua Kona, HI 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, two story family home (2/1 down and 3/1.5 up) Ocean and coastline view. Open beam ceiling upstairs. Large lanai. Lots of storage. Work shop/ hobby room. Home warranty program. MLS 292437 $519,500 Dianne M Tremain RB-17498 • 808-937-0798 75-5737 Kuakini Hwy #102 • Kailua-Kona, Hi 96740 808-325-6526 | www.PScoHawaiiRealEstate.com Ali‘i Lani Best price unit in project. Resort amenities, 2 parking stalls this Alii Lani unit is priced to sell. 2 bedroom 2 bathroom freshly painted ground oor unit. Too good to be true. Nice courtyard. Easy to see. ONLY $249,000. SHARLY WARD, License # RB12705 RB Elite Pacifi c Properties ABR, ASPM, CRS, GRI • Accredited Staging Professional Master • 2015, 2012 West Hawaii Today Best Real Estate Agent • 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award email: sharlyward@gmail.com 938-9533 12 West Hawaii Real Estate | April 27, 2016 Bolstered by big gains in the Northeast and Midwest, existing-home sales bounced back in March and remained slightly up from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million in March from a downwardly revised 5.07 million in February. Sales rose in all four major regions last month and are up modestly (1.5 percent) from March 2015. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says home sales had a nice rebound in March following February’s uncharacteristically large decline. “Closings came back in force last month as a greater number of buyers – mostly in the Northeast and Midwest – overcame depressed inventory levels and steady price growth to close on a home,” he said. “Buyer demand remains sturdy in most areas this spring and the mid-priced market is doing quite well. However, sales are softer both at the very low and very high ends of the market because of supply limitations and affordability pressures.” The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $222,700, up 5.7 percent from March 2015 ($210,700). March’s price increase marks the 49th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. Total housing inventory at the end of March increased 5.9 percent to 1.98 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 1.5 percent lower than a year ago (2.01 million). Unsold inventory is at a 4.5-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 4.4 months in February. “The choppiness in sales activity so far this year is directly related to the unevenness in the rate of new listings coming onto the market to replace what is, for the most part, being sold rather quickly,” adds Yun. “Additionally, a segment of would-be buyers at the upper end of the market appear to have been spooked by January’s stock market correction.” Matching the lowest share since August 2015, properties typically stayed on the market for 47 days in March, a decrease from 59 days in February and below the 52 days in March 2015. Short sales were on the market the longest at a median of 120 days in March, while foreclosures sold in 50 days and non-distressed homes took 46 days. Forty-two percent of homes sold in March were on the market for less than a month – the highest since July 2015 (43 percent). The share of first-time buyers was 30 percent in March, unchanged both from February and a year ago. First-time buyers in all of 2015 also represented an average of 30 percent. “With rents steadily rising and average fixed rates well below 4 percent, qualified first-time buyers should be more active participants than what they are right now,” adds Yun. “Unfortunately, the same underlying deterrents impacting their ability to buy haven’t subsided so far in 2016. Affordability and the low availability of starter homes is still a major barrier for them in most markets.” According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30- year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage ticked up from 3.66 percent in February to 3.69 percent in March, but remained below 4 percent for the eighth straight month. The average commitment rate for all of 2015 was 3.85 percent. NAR President Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Real Estate II Inc. in Coral Springs, Florida, says despite modest improvements, mortgage credit is still difficult to come by for many first-time buyers and middle-income households. “Reducing the Federal Housing Administration’s annual mortgage insurance premium rate and repealing its life-of-loan policy requirement would certainly expand options for more of these buyers,” he said. “These changes would save consumers money and further strengthen the FHA’s program by enticing more creditworthy borrowers to seek out FHA-insured loans.” All-cash sales were 25 percent of transactions in March (unchanged from February) and are up from 24 percent a year ago. Individual investors, who account for many cash sales, purchased 14 percent of homes in March, down from 18 percent in February and unchanged from a year ago. Sixty-six percent of investors paid cash in March. Distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – fell to 8 percent in Existing-home sales spring ahead in March


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