Hawai’i Tribune Herald Interview
On Monday, April 17th, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald ran a lead story titled, Big Island Home Sales Down 40%. That type of announcement can be very disconcerting for sellers, buyers AND Realtors®! I knew the article was forthcoming because Michael Bretstovansky, a reporter for the newspaper, had called asking for my opinion on the current market. Here are excerpts from the article…
Home sales on the Big Island continue to decline through the first quarter of 2023 as higher interest rates chill the market nationwide. According to the multiple listing service data, single family home sales in Hawaii County are down by more than 40% this year so far compared to 2022, with every district on the island seeing drops in activity.
“I’m telling sellers that if they get an offer that’s even slightly acceptable they should take it,” said Jen McGeehan, Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Island Properties.
“Right now, it’s still a strong seller’s market, but we haven’t seen the same amount of buyers, mostly because of the interest rates,” McGeehan said. “My sellers are starting to price themselves a little bit better, but they’re not hungry enough yet to set a price that will move within 30 days.”
“There’s been a big shift since COVID, people on the island moved out to be with family on the mainland and people on the mainland moved out here.” McGeehan said. “It’s hard to predict where that leaves us.”
McGeehan said the current high interest rates are difficult, but she often tells her clients that they aren’t as high as they could be. On the other hand, she said that the future of the market is especially opaque this time around.
“I don’t know what the government is going to do. Everything could change tomorrow.” McGeehan said. “I don’t think they’re going to raise the rates much more, but are they going to go down? If they do go down a point or two, is that going to cause a big change? I don’t know.”
