The Oahu real estate market continues to be volatile, with some indicators pointing towards a recovery along with the rest of the economy and others showing more negative news. According to a May 13, 2010 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, “Oahu remained well below the national rate of foreclosures in April, but the Big Island and Maui markets took large hits. There were 1,474 Hawaii properties that received foreclosure notices last month, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.” The article by Gene Park went on to say that “Hawaii’s April foreclosures, which equated to one in every 348 households, added up to a higher rate of foreclosures, which was one in every 387. Oahu fared the best, with one in every 580 homes. But Maui and the Big Island saw a high rate, with one in every 187 and one in every 179 homes, respectively.”

This conflicted information regarding Oahu homes for sale was also reported in a May 6, 2010 article from the Honolulu Advertiser. This piece found that “Buyers continued to rush back into O’ahu’s housing market in April, but median prices fell a bit and ended a three-month run of price gains for single-family homes and a two-month rise for condominiums.” The article went on to say that “The Honolulu Board of Realtors announced that the median price for single-family homes sold last month was down 6.2 percent to $563,000 from $600,000 in the same month last year. The decline occurred despite sales surging 52.9 percent to 286 last month from 187 a year earlier. For condos, the median price slipped 2.2 percent to $308,000 from $314,950. There were 390 condo sales in April, a 48.3 percent gain over 263 a year earlier.”

One instance of the conflicted information in the Oahu real estate market was reported in a May 26, 2010 article from the Honolulu Advertiser. This article said that “A federal report suggests that O’ahu home values aren’t as positive as indicated by local sales data, though the market appears to be on a path of improvement. The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday reported that O’ahu single-family home values in the first quarter were down 4.5 percent compared with the same quarter last year.”